White Rose of STARISH
by White Wolf Of The Moon12396
Summary: Nanami Aika has always been interested in the world of was on important blue haired idol that encouraged her to apply to Saotome Academy in the composer rough her studies and her friends, she learns a great deal. Will she be able to achieve her dream or will it be just out of reach? I haven't come up with a pairing yet, but for right now it is still reverse harem.
1. Chapter 1

**White Rose of STARISH Ch. 1**

**Hello lovelies! Here is a new story that I have been working on for a while now. I know that I have other stories that I could be working on right now, but I am slowly but surely working on a couple of my other stories. As for this story, I absolutely love Uta no Prince-sama so I wanted to write a story with my own OC in there instead of Haruka. Don't get me wrong, I love her, but I couldn't quite get in her head space enough to write her. Before I go on to the quote, I just wanted to share something with you guys. When I was in Japan about a year ago or so, there was an Uta no Prince-sama event at an anime store. Right outside the entrance they had life size cutouts of Quartet Night characters so you could see exactly how tall the characters are. Granted, I am a five foot four woman, but being next to the cut out of everyone but Ai made me feel so short. Although my friend knew I was going to be there for a few minutes just standing by them and taking pictures as soon as she saw the cut outs. She wasn't wrong lol. So, that was all I had to share. Let's get on with the quote.**

**"The beating of a heart is the first source of music."**

**-Shining Saotome**

**Now let's get on with the story!**

**ooo0ooo**

Fuck, fuck, fuck, a petite girl with pure white hair chanted in her head as she raced through the streets of Tokyo. I am so late. She made her way as safely and carefully as she could on the snow covered streets until the large building of Saotome Gakuen came into view. A sigh passed her lips as she arrived at the front gates where two security guards stood at attention. She made to go through the gates, but they were quick to stop her.

"Where do you think you're going?" one demanded when he saw the slightly out of breath girl.

"I'm here to apply to Saotome Academy," the girl told them, her molten gold eyes shining bright.

"It's too late," the other guard spoke up.

The girl started with surprise before her eyes hardened in determination.

"Please let me apply," the girl requested with an even tone even though her temper wanted to show itself.

"You can't," the first guard sighed. "We can't let you register after the prescribed time."

The girl's calm mask slipped a bit to show her rising anger, but she tried her hardest to keep it down.

"I want to apply no matter what," the girl insisted, moving forward into the guard's personal space.

"I want to study music at Saotome Gakuen."

"You're persistent, aren't you?" one of the guards sneered as he shoved the poor girl to the ground. A shout left her lips when she connected with the ground.

"Give up and go home."

This time the girl let her anger have free reign as she pushed herself to her feet to glare at the guards.

"Now listen here you-,"

"Are you okay?" a kind red headed boy asked the poor girl, moving his umbrella so that it covered her. The girl's anger quickly dissipated when she locked eyes with the boy's eyes that were almost the same shade of bright red as his hair.

"I wouldn't want you to catch cold," the boy added as he offered his hand out to the white haired girl. All of her anger and frustration seemed to melt from her body when the boy gently helped her to her feet.

"Who are you?" one of the guards demanded.

"An examinee," the boy answered easily. He shared a warm smile with the girl before he turned to face the guards.

"Hey, you can see how badly she wants it. Why not let her in?"

At his words, the girl's heart warmed. She hadn't been in the city long and yet she had already met someone so kind.

"She's late," the boy pointed out. "But there are still thirty minutes before the test starts."

"Can't do it," the guards insisted. "Late is late. Being less than punctual proves that she doesn't belong at Saotome Gakuen."

"That depends on the reason, right?" came a new voice that oozed charm and charisma. Both the girl and red haired boy turned to face a limo where a chauffeur hastened to cover a tall male with long ginger hair with an umbrella.

"The lady is late," the male continued, turning to show his crystal blue eyes.

"Because she stopped to help a lost child."

The white haired girl's eyes widened when she remembered the little girl she had helped to find her mother. Was he there when that happened, the girl asked herself.

"If I had known this little lamb was going to take the academy entrance exam today, I would've given her a lift…"

As he said this he walked over to the little group by the gate.

"See, the little girl she helped lost her umbrella," the male shared before pulling out a very elegant silver umbrella with white roses decorating the outside.

"Eh," the girl let out in shock and worry over the little girl.

"Don't worry," the male assured her with soft eyes. "I bought her a new one and she seemed to like it."

The girl gave a small smile to the male as she took offered umbrella.

"In my opinion, a student who helps a lost child when it's snowing outside is exactly the kind of student this school needs."

"Exactly!" the red haired boy agreed enthusiastically. "So let her take the test!"

"Please," the girl threw in.

"How many times do we have to say 'no'?!" one of the guards shouted. "We cannot let you in!"

The other guard then swiftly answered a call from his ringing phone while the other guard was trying to shoo the white haired girl away. The girl and the redhead had their attention on the guard in front of them while the ginger haired male had his focus on the guard on the phone.

"Don't be like that," the redhead pleaded.

"Yes?" the guard with the phone said to the other person on the line. "Of course. Understood."

With that the guard turned to the other.

"It's okay."

He then turned to face the group, namely the white haired girl.

"You can go in."

"I can take the test!" the girl shouted in joy, her whole face lighting up at the news that made the boys crack smiles in return at the obvious joy on the girl's face.

"Thank you so much!"

"You did it!" the redhead congratulated the white haired girl who beamed back up at him.

"Thank you," she directed at the redhead before she turned her dazzling smile on the ginger who smiled a little fondly down at the girl.

"You've got a way with words," the redhead praised the ginger with a hand on his shoulder. The ginger simply knocked the hand off of his shoulder to place both of his hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Good luck on the exam, Little Lamb."

The girl couldn't help but laugh softly at the way the ginger had rymed in his sentence.

"Let's meet again in April."

"Let's both do our best," the redhead cheered with a peace sign.

"Let's," the white haired girl agreed as her dimples flashed again. The redhead and the white haired girl were then led into the building where the entrance exam would determine both of their fates.

* * *

After that exam, the white haired girl returned to her grandmother's house in the country where nabe was waiting for her.

"How did you do dear?" her grandmother asked her as they sat down to dinner.

"I think I did well," the white haired girl admitted with a small smile that had her dimples peeking out.

"But I won't know for sure until I hear back from them in three weeks."

"I know you've been accepted," her grandmother assured her. "You're a talented young girl who is going to go far in life."

They both shared a smile at the exchanged words as they continued eating their dinner. Later that night found the girl trying to keep herself busy to try to tire herself out. At first she was trying to play different instruments like the piano and the saxophone, but it soon grew too late for that, so she instead turned to putting on headphones and practicing routines to popular idol songs from both Japan and South Korea. Just like she had planned, after about six or seven songs she began to tire so she ventured towards the bath to wind down for the night. Once done with the shower, she was able to settle into bed and turn in for the night.

For days after that, the girl followed the same routine to keep herself busy and her mind off the anxiety she had over her acceptance into Saotome Gakuen. At first her grandmother thought it was adorable how flustered the girl was over something she was sure the girl got anyway, but after a week or two of this, it got old quick.

"Will you calm down Aika," the grandmother huffed in annoyance. "You are going to get into that school."

True to the grandmother's words, later that day when she went to go check the mail, an elegant white envelope with gold lettering that bore the Saotome Gakuen crest waited for her.

"See, I told you," Aika's grandmother smiled when Aika excitedly showed the envelope.

"When do you need to leave for school?"

"It says that I'll need to leave in a month," Aika explained while reading the letter.

"When I get to the academy, they will give me my uniforms and the key to my room along with my student ID card."

"Then I guess we should be packing."

* * *

The month had passed quickly for Aika and before she knew it, she was on her way to Saotome Gakuen with her luggage. Upon arrival, she was given her student ID and her room key before someone showed her where her room was.

"Thank you," Aika said to the orientation volunteer before she opened her room door then slipped inside. Her roommate, it appeared, had already settled in and was out, so Aika dropped off her things right by her bed. She then traded her regular clothes for her uniform. The upper part of her uniform fit a little snuggly around the bust with a little bagginess around her waist and arms. As for the lower part of her uniform, her skirt was a little higher than what the intended length so she slipped on some black tights paired with red heels with a band around her ankle. Satisfied with her appearance, Aika ventured out of her room with her student ID and her room key in the pockets of her school blazer towards the school courtyard where other new students were trying to get a glimpse of their assigned classes.

"Aika!" exclaimed a new voice that had a smile growing on her lips.

"Tomo-chan!" Aika returned, holding out her arms for the redhead who in turn wrapped her arms around Aika's shoulders.

"We're in the same class," Tomo-chan announced happily. This person was Shibuya Tomochika whom Aika had met during the exam about a month ago. The two had quickly hit it off since meeting and had become fast friends. Tomo-chan gave a dazzling smile to Aika as she took one of Aika's hands and pulled her after her towards where the freshman orientation was to be held. As soon as two empty spots were found, Tomo-chan pulled Aika over and sat the both of them down. Tomo-chan then checked her makeup while Aika was taking in everything around her. She still couldn't believe that she was actually enrolled in Saotome Gakuen.

"Well everyone, welcome to the Saotome Gakuen entrance ceremony," the announcer began over the loudspeakers.

"First, an address from the headmaster."

There was silence as the speaker on stage looked around to try to find the headmaster only to come up empty. Aika raised an eyebrow at the act while she cast her eyes around to try to see if she could see where exactly the headmaster was. Then came the laughter that confused the hell out of all of the students.

"Anyone who doesn't know love, don't even think to speak of songs," the same voice that belonged to the laughter said.

"Just leave here at once!"

"S-Someone's over there!" one of the students exclaimed when he caught sight of a cloak moving in the breeze atop a building. Please don't tell me it's the headmaster, Aika thought to herself.

"The beating of a heart is the first source of music!" the masked man shouted to the crowd before he plummeted down from the roof. Many girls screamed at the scene while some guys gave gasps of surprise until the man was caught by some wires around his torso.

"Yes, my friends," he continued on. "The headmaster is me, Shining Saotome!"

Oh dear god, Aika groaned in her head.

"Welcome to Saotome Gakuen, or rather, to this shining world!"

In a spin of his wires, the headmaster lost his costume and instead landed on the stage in a suit then proceed to dance.

"Music is love! Come now, soul! Enshrine it! Put your whole soul into the songs! Make your life bloom! Shine ever brighter, people!"

Through the whole "performance" Aika was staring at the headmaster like he was crazy and slightly shook her head at the absurdness of his actions. And like that, Shining Saotome flew up into the air again via the wires and ran through the air away from the stage.

"Congratulations on your acceptance here! Thank you!"

As soon as he left the orientation area, confetti was released that rained down on the freshman.

"That...was something," Aika commented after a few minutes of listening to the others cheering. That seemed to commence the orientation for the announcer thanked everyone for their time and told everyone that they were to report to their classroom. Tomo-chan took Aika's hand in hers and happily walked with her to their shared had just settled into their seats and started talking about the headmaster when Aika heard a familiar voice.

"That was you!"

Aika turned to see the kind redhead from a month ago smiling happily towards her.

"Alright! We're in the same class!"

"Thank you for helping me out back at the entrance exam," Aika smiled to the redhead, standing up to give a little incline of her head.

"So this is Lifesaver A?" Tomo-chan inquired with a slightly critical eye.

"I'm Ittoki Otoya," the redhead introduced himself when he realized that they did not know his name.

"Nice to meet you again."

Even though Otoya had extended his hand towards Aika, Tomo-chan stepped forward in between them.

"I'm Shibuya Tomochika. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Nanami Aika," Aika added.

"Huh? Aika-chan? Anyhow it was good that you were able to take that test."

Towards the back of the class, a blond with glasses zoned into their conversation and his eyes focused on the white haired girl. He stood up from his seat with a look of childish wonder and excitement before he took off running towards her.

"E-li-za-beth," he called out as he ran. He even went airborne which greatly shocked his intended target. Luckily for her, her savior came to her aide with blue hair who pushed Otoya in the attack zone. This resulted in the unnamed blond clinging to Otoya who was starting to freak out.

"Get off of me!"

Upon realizing that he did not have in intended target, the blond let go and Otoya fell to the ground. Once Aika could focus again, she looked up into cool blue eyes.

"That was close," he commented in a soft tone. Because she was really close to said savior, she backed up a bit with a slight blush on her cheeks as she thanked him.

"No need to thank me," he assured her.

"What was that about?!" Tomo-chan demanded of the still unnamed blond.

"Somebody could have gotten hurt!"

"I beg your pardon," the blond apologized. "She looks so much like Elizabeth that I lost it for a moment…"

"I look like a foreigner?" Aika asked in disbelief.

"No," the blond denied. "Our family dog."

Almost everyone stared in disbelief at his statement.

"Oh, Elizabeth is so tiny and cute with her white fur and her golden eyes!"

Aika relaxed after hearing that they did look similar with the hair and eye color.

"We've been apart ever since I moved into the dorm!"

"Oh, I'm Shinomiya Natsuki," the blond said after he was done lamenting over his dog.

"I love things that are small and cute."

"I'm Nanami Aika," Aika returned, putting her hand in his for a handshake. She almost gave a jolt when she realized that she didn't ask for the blue haired man's name.

"I'm Hijirikawa Masato."

"I'm Nanami Aika," Aika greeted him. "Nice to meet you."

"Since you're Natsuki, how about I call you Na-chan?" Otoya asked Natsuki.

"Na-chan?" Natsuki repeated only for a large smile to appear on his face.

"Na-chan is cute, isn't it? I like it. For Masato, Masa would be good, right?"

"Whatever you want," Masato relented as he went back to his seat.

"Masato-kun is super duper cute," Natsuki remarked.

Aika was so focused on laughing with Tomo-chan and Otoya that she missed the annoyed complaints of her classmates that did not go unnoticed by Masato. The jovial atmosphere of the group was then interrupted by the snapping of fingers as the curtains closed and multicolored lights zigzagged around the room.

"Good morning-pu," a higher pitched male voice greeted the class before a spotlight was shone down on who turned out to be Tsukimiya Ringo.

"Okay, okay, everyone. Take your seats!"

Everyone, save Aika and her new group of friends, fawned over their teacher who ate up all the attention.

"I'm the very picture of a maiden, Tsukimiya Ringo," Ringo introduced himself.

"I'm in charge of A class here. Call me Ringo-sensei. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Even right in front of us, you can't tell that he's a man, you know," Tomo-chan whispered to Aika who looked to her teacher with a curious glint in her eyes.

"I can see that he's a man," Aika admitted. "I've also heard that his agency made him cross-dress because he looks cute."

"What?" Tomo-chan gasped in shock.

"Welcome to Saotome Gakuen!" Ringo-sensei greeted the class. "As you all very well know, Saotome Gakuen is a vocational school dedicated to cultivating idols and composers who write songs for them. Our facilities and environment are also fabulous. Every single homeroom teacher here is a working idol. All of the other teachers are famous, first rate poets and composers. If you distinguish yourselves, you may just be in for a major debut. So with that in mind, I hope you're all raring to go."

Ringo-sensei went through a few more things with the class before the class switched to another class until it was lunch time.

"Between the entrance ceremony and homeroom, what a strong impression!" Tomo-chan exclaimed with joy.

"Too much to take in!"

Aika laughed just as the two entered the cafeteria area.

"And this place is so huge…," she admitted in awe. "So anyway, what are you gonna eat? I'm gonna get a hamburger."

"Shit," Aika mumbled to herself as she fumbled through her pockets to pull out her student ID so that she could pay for her meal. By the time she looked up, she had lost sight of her friend.

"Tomo-chan," Aika called out only to get knocked into by someone passing by that had her card flying from her hand. Even though she wanted to chew the person out, she focused more on finding out where her card went.

"Got it," she heard a male voice comment from her right.

"Safe!"

She turned to see a guy wearing a stylish hat atop his blond hair with bright blue eyes sparkling down at her.

"Here you are."

"Thank you so much," Aika sighed in relief.

"Careful there Munchkin," came a familiar voice that Aika smiled at.

"Munchkin?!" the blond grumbled.

The same ginger haired male who had helped Aika out at the entrance exam came forward with his usual elegance.

"I had my eye on this lady first."

"Ren! My name ain't "Munchkin"! It's Kurusu Shou!"

Aika may have raised an eyebrow at the way Shou was reacting to Ren's comment, but she pushed it to the side so that she could thank her savior once again.

"Thank you for your help at the entrance ceremony," Aika directed to the ginger haired male who only gave a crooked smile.

"Meeting you again must be fate," Ren commented. Aika almost deadpanned in her facial expression when she rose from her bow.

"How many girls does that work on?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"None have called me out on it," Ren chuckled, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

"A flirt, as always," came the familiar voice of Masato that everyone turned to face.

"And as always" Ren returned on his way away from the group towards Masato. "You're a stiff."

"W-What?! Lifesaver B was Jinguji Ren?!" Tomo-chan exclaimed, all but throwing herself on Aika.

"I didn't know his name when I first met him," Aika told her. "Who is he anyway?"

"He's a scion of the Jinguji Financial Group."

"Really…," Aika trailed off in surprise.

"And Hijirikawa Masato is a scion of the Hijirikawa Financial Group."

"So they've known each other since childhood?" Aika questioned when the boys started talking to each other.

"I didn't think that the eldest Hijirikawa son would be in A class," Ren commented.

"Soon enough, I'll use my ability to turn things around," Masato said as if stating a promise. Ren gave a small laugh and shook his head slightly.

"I'm looking forward to it."

"They might," Tomo-chan pondered. "But when they do meet, it's like the claws come out. And on top of that, one of them is in S class which is only for the highest achieving students."

"You go grab us a table," Aika told her with a nod towards an empty table. "While I go get my lunch."

"Got'cha," Tomo-chan winked before slipping away. It didn't take long for Aika to grab some curry rice and settle down at the table.

"I can't believe the level of the males around here," Tomo-chan huffed while glancing around the lunchroom.

"They are seriously off the charts."

"I'd have to agree with you," Aika nodded. "It's a shame about the no romance rule but I can see why it's in place. If you were to get into a relationship with your paired idol or composer and things went south, that would put a strain on your professional life."

Tomo-chan gave a hum of agreement while putting her chin in the palm of her hand.

* * *

Later that day found both Tomo-chan and Aika back in their dorm room and unpacking their luggage. While Aika was working, she had music playing in the background while she put away her clothes and school supplies into her desk. Once she was done with that, she began decorating her room with anime posters along with one Hayato poster and her Kuroshitsuji bedding.

I'll do my best, Aika thought towards the poster of Hayato. I'll do my best so that I can write a song for you someday, Hayato-sama.

"I remember you saying you were a huge fan of Hayato," Tomo-chan commented when she saw the poster.

"But you didn't tell me why you are so into him. He's like a totally frivolous comedy idol."

"He wasn't at first," Aika smiled sadly. "And his songs are really great. For most of my childhood I stayed with my grandmother in the country, but I returned to the city sometimes. Because I was so used to the countryside, I couldn't get used to the city. Everything was so loud and confusing that I just curled up in a ball on the street. I was so close to passing out until I heard one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. It was one of Hayato's earlier songs that was playing over one of the billboards. I could feel his music just grab a hold of something in my soul and it didn't let go."

"He was like that around the time of his debut," Tomo-chan agreed from her bed.

"I didn't know his name back then, but I researched him until I found it," Aika confided.

"He's the reason I want to write music. I want to make kind and uplifting music like the one I heard that lifted me back up from the sea of sound in the city. I'm also hoping that one day I can even write a song for him."

While Aika was pouring her heart out to her, Tomo-chan rose from her bed and walked over to stand next to Aika.

"You're lucky," Tomo-chan told Aika with a smile. "You have such a tight hold on a goal you can believe it."

They both shared a smile before they went back to setting up their sides of the shared dorm room. Aika was finished relatively quickly with her unpacking and even had time to take a shower and change into a white pajama set with a spaghetti strap camisole like top that ended at her belly button and shorts of the same material that ended at the middle of her thigh.

"We start classes tomorrow and I haven't unpacked at all," Tomo-chan sighed, kneeling beside her bed in her own pajamas. Aika smiled to herself as she organized her school things into the issued school backpack from her desk.

"Hey, are you thirsty?" Tomo-chan asked. "I'll buy us something to drink."

"Thanks," Aika smiled at the offer. She watched Tomo-chan leave then turned back to her sheets that she had been putting in her backpack. However, the cry of a cat made her stop what she was doing and look out towards the window balcony that was between the two beds. He is so cute, Aika thought to herself when she saw the beautiful black coat and intelligent green eyes. She watched the cat enter the room while she walked over to him to try to pick him up.

"Where did you come from you handsome tom?" Aika asked the cat fondly when the cat jumped on her bed. Its ears seemed to flick quickly in embarrassment before he continued towards the handkerchiefs that Aika had on her bed. She had tried picking out which one she would take with her, but she had trouble picking one. She thought that the cat was going to go lay on the handkerchiefs, but instead he picked up a white one that had hand embroidered flowers on the edges along with her name then bounded out the window.

"Hey!" Aika called after the cat. "Give that back!"

When the cat didn't come back, Aika put on her shoes then hastened outside to see if she couldn't find the kleptomaniac cat. She had just caught sight of the cat and ran towards him when he took off again, much to the annoyance of the white haired girl. The cat led her down a long path that eventually ended at a lakeside with a small marble pavilion.

"Where did that cat go?" Aika huffed to herself in exasperation. She looked around to try to find him, but instead she found her handkerchief in the grass that she hastened to pick up. Thankfully the white wasn't stained even if the handkerchief had to be washed now.

"Thank god," Aika sighed in relief as she rose to her feet only to tense up when she heard the sound of ruffling leaves. A little ways in front of her, a male came out from the bushes to kneel beside the pavillion. Aika's eyes widened when she recognized her idol Hayato. Oh my god, she thought in her head while she froze in shock and awe. Hayato-sama in literally right in front of me. Without realizing it, Aika's feet took her forwards so that she was heading towards him. No, no, no, no, no, Aika freaked out in her head. I can't go up to him! What will I say when I do finally reach him?! She had only reached halfway when he noticed her presence. However, when his eyes landed on her, they widened in surprise. With how pale she was and how fair her hair was, Aika looked like a spirit in her white pajamas. If Hayato didn't know any better, he would have called her a moon goddess.

"I'd never thought I would meet Hayato-sama here," Aika commented in a breathy voice that broke Hayato out of his spell.

"I am Ichinose Tokiya," the dark haired male insisted with his eyes closed so that he could gather his bearings.

"Please don't confuse me with that shallow dullard Hayato."

Aika was taken aback by Tokiya's cold attitude towards Hayato, but she was certain that the boy in front of her was in fact Hayato. Coming to terms with the fact that she should probably head back to her dorm, Aika made to leave but stopped herself. She had one thing to say to him before she left.

"Hayato-sama isn't dull," Aika told Tokiya. "He is really kind and warm, but I'm sure that the popular "energetic" character is what agencies are requiring now."

She gave a little bow to him then really left the clearing to head back to her room. Although, Aika did miss the almost wide eyed stare Tokiya was giving to her back as she left. Not one of his fans had ever picked up that his energetic "Hayato" persona was just an act until her.

"What an interesting girl," Tokiya remarked softly to himself.

ooo0ooo

"Where were you Aika," Tomo-chan huffed when Aika finally returned. "I was so worried when I got back and you were gone."

"A cat came through the window and took off with one of my handkerchiefs," Aika explained with said handkerchief raised to show the proof.

"Really?" Tomo-chan uttered in surprise. "Well it's a good thing you got it back then."

"Here, here," Aika agreed while she moved over to her side of the room.

"Hey Tomo-chan, do you mind if I play my violin?"

"Not at all," she smiled excitedly. "I saw all the instrument cases that you had brought here. Do you play all of them?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of free time as a child," Aika joked.

Nonetheless Aika went about swiftly taking out her violin and tuning it to her liking. She already had a song in mind when she settled the instrument under her chin and raised her bow. Tomo-chan waited with baited breath for the first few notes that she recognized to be "Evermore" for the live action version of Beauty and the Beast. As soon as the song started, the notes just seemed to fall from Aika's violin while her eyes fell closed and her mind cleared of everything but playing the song. As was evident when she was waiting to hear back from the school, whenever she needed to calm herself she would play and the night right before classes seemed like a fitting time. When she played the last note of the song, a contented sigh left her as she brought her violin down and her eyes looked on with a gentle gaze.

"That was amazing Aika!" Tomo-chan congratulated her as Aika put the violin back in its case.

"Thank you Tomo-chan," Aika smiled. "It helps calm me down if I'm anxious or nervous. Do you play any instruments?"

"I play the trumpet a little," Tomo-chan answered easily.

"Maybe we can play together sometime," Aika suggested.

"Maybe," Tomo-chan smiled.

**ooo0ooo**

**And there we have it lovelies! The first chapter. After writing this chapter, I realized just how hard it is to try to write out Masato's last name. -.- It's half the reason I just refer to him as Masato later on. So, what did you guys think so far about Aika? I absolutely adore her. I have two more chapters already written up so they will be uploaded very shortly after the story goes up. Remember, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the story, be sure to drop a review or shoot me a pm. Even if you want to just talk about Uta no Prince-sama feel free to do either. Remember, reviews are magic!**

**-White Wolf**


	2. Chapter 2

**White Rose of STARISH Ch. 2**

**And here is the second chapter I promised you guys. This chapter has some time with Otoya, Masato, and a very handsome kitty. Since I just posted the chapter, I can't post any magic at the pre-story A/N. Instead I will give the quote then get on with the story.**

**"Everyone loses sight of themselves. Don't worry about it."**

**-Ichinose Tokiya**

**On with the story!**

**ooo0ooo**

The next morning, Aika woke earlier than her alarm feeling well rested. A small smile grew on her lips as she sat up in her bed and stretched her arms over her head. Any kinks that were in her back popped which had a satisfied sigh leaving her. She let out a deep breath before she made herself leave her warm bed then make it behind her.

It's a good thing I'm a morning person, Aika thought to herself while she pulled off her pajamas so that she could dress into her school uniform. She had just pulled on her dark stockings and was going to her vanity table when Tomo-chan finally rose from sleep.

"Morning Tomo-chan," Aika greeted with a bright smile while brushing out her hip length pure white hair.

"You have really long hair," Tomo-chan yawned when she saw her waves.

"Thanks."

Aika then went about separating her hair in half with some hair free to frame her face with the other hair to put into twin buns that resembled roses which had extra hair hanging down to her chest that she pulled in front of her shoulders. In the time that it took for Aika to do her hair, Tomo-chan was just buttoning up her school shirt with her hair already done. Not long after that they were both dressed with their school bags in hand and their shoes on their feet.

"Breakfast sounds really good right now," Tomo-chan said tiredly on their way to the cafeteria.

"You're not a morning person, are you?" Aika teased lightly.

"Only once I've gotten food in me," Tomo-chan grumbled. Aika said nothing else for the rest of the way. Once they had eaten, they both ventured to their homeroom where Ringo-sensei was waiting for them.

"Good morning," Ringo-sensei enthusiastically greeted the class to which Aika smiled at.

"Everyone here survived the fierce entrance examination battle, but your real battle begins today!"

Now that Aika had passed the entrance exam, she had a bit more confidence in her abilities. Which meant that she faced her teacher's words with her chin in her hand and a raised eyebrow.

"People in the idol course, raise your hand."

As told, the handful of students raised their hands.

"Then, people in the musical composition course."

Aika was among the others that put their hand in the air.

"I see. So we've got kids who aim to be idols and kids who aim to compose for the idols."

All the while Ringo-sensei was informing the class as to what the school year would entail, Aika listened attentively even if her chin was still in the palm of her hand. What really intrigued her was that at the end of the first term, she was going to be paired up with an idol from any class to write a song. However, she became more serious when it was mentioned that the graduation audition would consist of the same pairing and that the pair that won would have a major debut.

"Until the official pairs are decided," Ringo-sensei continued. "At the end of the first term, get to know a lot of people and search for your perfect partner! Oh, and one more thing. There's a very important rule! Romance in absolutely forbidden!"

No matter how many times Aika heard the rules, she was still shocked at the rule yet she scoffed to herself under her breath. She didn't have time for romance while studying here. She had to work her ass off to make sure she had the opportunity to write songs for Hayato-sama. Having a relationship was not worth her getting expelled from the academy.

"Now," Ringo-sensei said once the seriousness had ebbed. "Let's start with checking everybody's capabilities by having a recording contest!"

"I'm going to pair you up for this one time only," Ringo-sensei told the class.

"The idol course kids will write the lyrics and the composer course kids will write the music."

Aika grew anxious at being told that she was gonna be responsible for writing the music because she had never actually composed music before, but she was quick to be overcome with determination.

"I randomly drew lots to decide on the pairs," Ringo-sensei announced as he put the sheets up on the chalkboard.

"After all, in show business, luck is also part of ability."

While most of the class was a little unhappy with Ringo-sensei's words, Aika was scanning the list to see who she got paired off with. It looks like I'm with...she thought until her eyes landed on her name. Ittoki-kun?! A smile was quick to spring to her lips when she turned around to look at her partner. As soon as he realized who he was paired off with, he rose from his chair and turned excitedly to Aika.

"I'm paired up with Nanami," he cheered. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"So am I," Aika winked. "Let's both do our best."

"Right!"

"Okay," Ringo-sensei called out to settle everyone down. "As a reference point, let's listen to the best tune from last year. Accompanying on piano will be...Nanami Aika-chan!"

Aika's eyes widened at the announcement while she felt herself pale at the implication of all of the attention on her. She took a deep breath to somewhat settle her nerves before she rose from her seat and headed to the large piano in the back of the room to play the music.

"All you have to do is play the melody," Ringo-sensei told her when he handed over the sheet music. Her hands almost shook as she spread out the music on the stand then settled on the piano seat.

"Please start from letter A, after the 16th bar of the intro cut."

With her heart hammering away in her chest Aika's eyes tried and failed to find the mentioned spot on the sheet music.

"Where the repeat mark is," Ringo-sensei clarified. Through her nervousness, Aika's eyes couldn't focus on the notes fore they seemed to just blur together even if her shaking hands were able to find their way to a proper resting placement on the keys. It didn't help that a few of the students began to trash talk her even though she was in the room. That only served to make Aika even more nervous that had her hands all but a trembling mess. Ringo-sensei seemed to catch on to Aika's nervousness so he quietly asked for her to return to her seat.

"I feel bad for Ittoki-kun," one of her classmates commented. "He has to have her as a partner."

Aika's eyes widened in shock and guilt when Ittoki went on to deny the claim that the classmate had made. Am I going to drag Ittoki-kun down, Aika asked herself. I know how to read the music and to play instruments but I'm not used to playing in front of people. Maybe I can pull Ittoki-kun aside after class and explain to him, Aika thought while nibbling on her bottom lip. That way we can be on the same page. With her mind set, Aika sat through lecture and took diligent notes about what Ringo-sensei was lecturing about.

When lunch time came around, Aika told Tomo-chan to go on ahead while waiting for Ittoki-kun to come out of the classroom. As soon as she saw the redhead, she waved to him while calling his name.

"Ittoki-kun!"

"Hey Nanami," Ittoki-kun smiled warmly to the shorter white haired girl.

"I need to talk to you about our partnership," Aika told him.

"Ok, why don't we go over to the side a little bit more?"

Once the both of them were a good distance away from prying ears, Aika started to let out all of her feelings.

"I just wanted to let you know that while I have never written a song before, I know how to play the piano and read the music. Although I have never played in front of an audience before so I guess I kind of choked in front of the class."

Ittoki-kun's eyes softened at Aika's words while a smile unconsciously grew on his lips.

"It's alright Nanami," he assured her. "I've never written lyrics before now either. I understand that playing in front of people for the first time in hard so I understand completely."

A weight seemed to have floated off of Aika's back at Ittoki-kun's words and her own smile appeared to match his.

"Then I look forward to making a beautiful song together," Aika said while holding out her hand.

"So do I," Ittoki-kun grinned while taking her hand in his. Her skin is so soft, Ittoki-kun thought to himself when his fingers wrapped around her pale hand. Later that day after lunch and the rest of classes, Aika retreated into the library where she could study how to compose music rather than just reading the music. I have to make sure that the music I write will be a good fit for Ittoki-kun, Aika thought to herself. I want to tailor it so it is something that really speaks about his personality. She devoured books upon books about methods and examples about composing music that had half a notebook filled up with notes. Off to the side of where Aika was studying, Masato and Natsuki were watching how fired up she was.

"She's surprisingly positive, isn't she?" Natsuki asked his blue haired friend who was watching the white haired girl with a critical eye.

"I'm relieved."

Satisfied with what they had seen, the boys left Aika to her own devices. I still can't think of anything to write for this song, Aika grumbled to herself while she rubbed her forehead. But wait...I can just grab my guitar and Ittoki-kun can grab his and we can pitch chords to each other. That might actually work, Aika grinned to herself with a determined look in her eye. Maybe I can try coming up with a few starts for a song back in my dorm after a shower then I can turn in for the night. With her mind made up, Aika packed up her things and walked back to her dorm room. She couldn't help but hum to herself as she packed up her things for the bath. She made sure to grab her matching set of pale pink pajama set with white roses that was made up of a pair of shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top before she went to the showers. After about twenty minutes, Aika was back in her dorm with her hair braided into a thick braid down to the middle of her back. By that time, Tomo-chan had already headed to bed so Aika quietly settled at her desk with some composing paper. She tapped her pencil against her lips as her mind flooded with notes and chords for the acoustic guitar on one of her pieces of paper. She seemed satisfied with the composition for all of three minutes before she growled in irritation to herself. Instead of erasing the work she had on that first piece of paper, she took a fresh piece and started another composition on it. She only got about a line or two written down before she grew frustrated with that too. She made about two or three more papers that she was not happy with before she all but threw her pencil down on her desk with frustrated tears in the corners of her eyes. Maybe I can take my mind off of it if I listen to some new songs that were released, she thought to herself before she reached for her laptop. She was careful to plug in her earphones to the laptop then searched the internet for possible new songs that were released. One in particular caught her interest. It was a group of idols from Shining Agency who went under the stage name Quartet Night. This looks promising. She clicked on their debut single and the first notes rang out in her soul. Her eyes widened as their voices then sounded out amongst the music. Wow, she thought to herself as she watched the music video for the song. This is the work of professionals. I hope I can match their level of skill in time. As the video came to an end, she felt herself drifting off so she shut her laptop and removed her headphones. Maybe I can get out one more page of music before I turn in for the night, she tried to reason with herself before she let out a large yawn. This time she was able to get about two and a half lines of music written down before her head fell onto the desktop when her tiredness overtook her.

For a good half an hour, Aika dozed and dreamt of her seventh birthday with her grandmother. She had received a teddy bear as a present while she had put a little song together for her. By then Aika was rising from her doze to the feeling of a cat's tongue against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open to see the black cat from earlier on her desk.

"Hello there little kitty," Aika chuckled sleepily. "You certainly are a mischievous one."

He gave a small mew before he bounded off the desk and out the terrace doors.

"I'm guessing he wants me to follow him," Aika grumbled to herself while she rose from her desk chair. She slipped on her slippers then followed the same path that the cat had led her on to meet Hayato/Tokiya the other day. Just seeing the moon and stars reflecting off the water was a peaceful sight that settled her nerves. While gazing out at the water, Aika couldn't help but think about Otoya. The way he smiled so brightly and was always so cheerful. Like a sunflower, Aika thought to herself. Meanwhile, a certain redhead had stepped into the clearing and saw the fair haired girl looking out at the water. He couldn't help the awe that he felt seeing her bathed in the moonlight. Everything about her seemed to just glow under the light of the moon that made her seem like she was made entirely out of moonlight. She is so beautiful, he thought to himself before she began to sing a little tune to herself. That only seemed to cement in his mind that this girl was an ethereal, mythical creature that managed to blend in with the rest of society. The longer Aika sang on, the closer Otoya found himself walking towards her.

"That's a nice tune," he told her in a soft voice, afraid that saying anything louder would disturb the spell.

"Oto-chan," Aika let out in surprise with the nickname she had given him slipping from her lips. Both looked taken aback at the name that had them both blushing.

"I'm sorry," Aika began. "I gave you the name in my head, but I didn't want-,"

"It's fine," he assured her. While most people would have been offended at the name, he couldn't help but feel his chest warm.

"I'm sorry I startled you. What was that tune you were singing? I could feel it ring in my chest."

"It was something I came up with at my desk a few minutes ago."

"That is some fine composing. I think we might actually have the start to our song."

"You're satisfied with that?" Aika asked with wide eyes.

"Extremely satisfied."

They both shared a grin before Otoya gave a sigh.

"I actually came here because I couldn't come up with any ideas for lyrics ...but thanks to your tune, I think I can come up with some now. Let's see ..."

"Let's hope the futures that we make

That ride this melody

Overlap each other today …"

"Those are good lyrics," Aika smiled softly. "I actually had an idea about coming up with ideas for our song."

"What's that?"

"We could grab our guitars and we can play some chords and throw around some lyrics until we decide what will work."

"I like that plan," Otoya agreed with his own small smile.

* * *

And that was how it came to be that the two could be seen all over campus with their guitars strumming out new chords that they either kept or discarded. Every time that they would meet back up, Aika would show up with a dazzling smile and more added to her composition for the song. It was the same composition sheet that she had written after watching Quartet Night and she was not going to lose the magic the song held by writing the rest on a separate piece of paper unless it was to make a second page. They both laughed and sang together that had their friendship blooming beautifully. Or in Otoya's case, his feelings for Aika beginning to rear its head. One prime example was when one of Otoya's guitar strings broke and cut his finger. He let out a lep of pain and made to put his finger in his mouth, but Aika beat him to it. His face lit up with a blush as Aika reached into her bag and pulled out some bandages and some disinfectant to bandage his finger.

"Does it feel better?" Aika had asked him.

"Much better now," he assured her. Satisfied, Aika had returned to the song while Otoya couldn't help but have the moment play over and over in his mind. Even when he went back to his room that night, he kept looking at his bandaged finger. Before they both knew it, they were in the recording studio so that Otoya could sing the song for evaluation.

"I'm so nervous," he confessed to Aika before he went into the actual booth.

"Don't worry Oto-chan," she smiled up at him. "If you think it's too much, just look out at me and you'll be fine. I'm here for you."

A grateful smile graced his lips and Aika reached up to pat his chest since she couldn't reach his shoulder. As soon as the headphones were on his head and he was looking into Aika's golden gaze, Otoya easily started the song.

"Let's hope the futures that we make

That ride this melody

Overlap each other today

Unchanging and firm, like this phrase

I don't wanna be apart from you!"

Nanami, he thought to himself. I'm putting my feelings for you in this song. A song that we both made together. I hope that they reach you.

"We stumble

We fall we go together

Towards tomorrow

Without you, even the normal stuff

Is just a mass of noise

Let's ask God to stop this time

Time leap and feedback

It's enough to make me sigh

I won't let 'em look away

I won't let 'em look away

Your eyes

Let's smile with everything we've got

And strive for tomorrow

Make a peace sign with 100% energy

At that time, I'll say

The word with two characters

My lost heart will fly

I'm charmed by you."

When the song was over, Otoya slipped the headphones off and left the booth only to receive praise from both Ringo-sensei and Hyuga-sensei.

"That was great Ittoki-kun."

"Great job."

"Way to go Oto-chan!" Aika exclaimed, throwing her arms around him to celebrate. Otoya couldn't help but laugh at her infectious laughter and cheer.

"Why don't we go get some ice cream?" Otoya suggested as he wrapped his own arms around Aika's small shoulders.

"Let's!" she agreed at once.

ooo0ooo

The day after next, Aika stood in a large group of people to try to find out her score for the recording test. Nerves bubbled in her stomach and her hands fidgeted while her eyes quickly scanned the boards. She finally found her name with a score of 87 next to it. I passed, she sighed in relief before she was tackled by her best friend and roommate.

"We did it!" she shouted with joy, her arms squeezing Aika to her chest.

"We both passed!"

"That's great!" Aika grinned when Tomo-chan pulled back slightly to see the shorter girl's face. They both laughed while hugging the other, both so relieved that they had passed.

"Nanami!" Otoya called when he had spotted the fair haired girl.

"What did I tell you about calling me that!" she returned with a good natured pout. Unseen by Aika, Tomo-chan gave a teasing smirk when she let her go. She was going to question her later when they got back to their room.

"Eh, Aika-chan," he amended on his way over with a sheepish look that quickly morphed into joy.

"We did it, didn't we?!"

"Yes, we did Oto-chan!" Aika confirmed while throwing her arms around the taller male.

"Listen everyone!" Ringo-sensei called out to all the students. "For those who didn't pass the test will retake it next week."

"This time take the bull by the horns and do everything you can to pass," Hyuga-sensei added.

"Before class," Ringo-sensei continued on. "Kids who are in the idol course, pick up training materials at the office, okay?"

"I better get going," Otoya said to Aika who released her hold on him, much to his reluctance.

"Me too," Tomo-chan added. "We'll see you in the classroom Aika."

Aika gave a little wave before she turned to make her way to her classroom. I'm so happy I passed, Aika thought to herself in glee. I wasn't so sure that I would be able to pass the test and excel here, but passing has given me new confidence. I'm sure in time I will meet Hayato-sama and compose a song for him. Speak of the devil, she thought when she ran into Hayato himself in the corridor. Their last meeting flashed through both of their minds, and Aika couldn't help but wince a little at how she phrased her words.

"I'm sorry for how I spoke to you last time," Aika bowed to the blue haired male. "I do not regret what I said, but I realize that the delivery left something to be desired."

"What is the point of apologizing now?" Tokiya asked with his eyes closed. "Do you wish to curry favor with me so you can meet my brother?"

"No," Aika answered with almost grit teeth. "I realize that I can be rather rude sometimes and I wanted to apologize when I saw you next. If I wanted to meet Hayato-sama, I would get a backstage pass to his next concert."

Tokiya felt a rush of surprise at her words yet he didn't let his face change from his indifferent mask.

"You are an unusual girl," he commented before he left her alone in the hallway.

"What does he mean unusual?" Aika huffed to herself. Rather then dwell on his words, Aika continued on her way to her classroom. Seeing as though the idol course people were getting their materials, she expected that half the class was missing. What she was not expecting, however, was the words that were written on the board. Suspicious connections, Aika read in shock. What do they mean? I don't have any connections in the academy. Aika distantly heard Otoya and Tomo-chan return, but didn't quite register them until they rushed forward to erase the words on the board. Natauki and Masato were the next people to come through the door and they were shocked when they read what was on the board. Masato was angry with the class for bullying the girl while Natsuki didn't like the frown that marred her full lips or her brow.

"Good morning-pu!" Ringo-sensei greeted the students while he breezed past Aika.

"Please take your seats."

"Don't let it get to you Aika-chan," Otoya insisted while Tomo-chan had a hand on her opposite shoulder.

"Let's get down to business," Ringo-sensei continued on as Tomo-chan steered Aika to her seat.

"Today I'll be giving you your next song for homework. I'll be giving students who didn't do well before a second chance."

Aika's face paled even more at her teacher's words. That would only make everything worse.

"Ai-chan," Ringo-sensei tried to call on her that fell on deaf ears.

"Nanami Aika-chan!"

"Yes?" Aika jumped at the use of her teacher saying her full name. She quickly stood when he approached her seat.

"Here, if you please."

"Alright," she said as she took the stack of sheet music from him. After taking a quick glance at the scoring, she walked over to the piano and settled onto the bench. The harsh whispers were quick to spring up again, but Tomo-chan and Otoya were having none of it.

"Aika, don't-," Tomo-chan began only for Otoya to shout.

"Everyone, be quiet!"

"Otoya-kun," Ringo-sensei scolded him lightly. "Please refrain from talking."

Feeling a little better at having the support from her friends, she managed to play a couple notes before the whispers came back full force that had her faltering with the notes before her blurring and dancing about the page. Even her hands began to shake at the amount to stress she was putting on herself to read the music correctly, but she was close to her limit. Gritting her teeth in irritation and anger, she rose from the piano bench only to run from the classroom.

"Wait, Aika!" Tomo-chan called after her to no avail. Aika kept running and running until she came upon beautiful grass and trees just outside of Academy property where she all but collapsed onto her butt.

"What is that matter with me," she groaned to herself in anger. "I can read the music and play the piano. Why should the opinions of other people matter so much to me?"

A growl left her as she pulled her knees up to her chest and harshly rubbed her forehead against her knees. A meow was what had her easing her hold on her knees so that she could look up to see that same cat who came to her last night.

"Hello little kitty," she greeted him with a small smile, her arms opening up to invite him over. The cat was all too happy to come over and Aika was quick to scoop him up and hold him close to her chest. She then rubbed her cheek against his forehead that had the small cat purring contently.

"You always know when to find me when I need someone," she sighed into his silky black fur.

"Thank you Cecil."

The cat in her arms jumped slightly at the name while Aika looked down in surprise.

"Do you not like the name?" she mused thoughtfully. "I spent so much time looking up a name to give you. A Japanese name doesn't really seem to suit you."

The cat in turn licked her face to ease her rambling.

"So I take it you like the name?"

A meow was given in agreement.

"Alright. Cecil, it is."

In the back of her mind, Aika realized just how crazy it was talking with the cat, but she has witnessed first hand just how smart animals actually were. It was then that Cecil started meowing again.

"Are you hungry Ce-chan?" Aika asked him when he rubbed his head against her chest.

"Meow."

"Alright," she chuckled, placing him back down on the ground. "Wait here and I'll go grab you something."

He looked up at her with soulful green eyes as she jogged away from the field to the store that the academy housed on campus. Let's see, she thought to herself while browsing the isles. He'll probably want some fish so I should grab some of that. After picking up a few things for the cat to nibble on, Aika saw that Masato from her class was browsing the calligraphy brushes.

"Masato-san, I didn't know that you did calligraphy," Aika commented, coming over to stand by him.

"I've always wanted to give it a try, but I've never really had anyone to teach me."

"Nanami-san," Masato greeted. "I wanted to speak with you. Would you mind stepping outside with me?"

"Sure," Aika answered with a slightly confused smile. "Just let me pay for this."

Masato joined her on the way to the register so that he could pay for the brush that he had been eyeing when Aika ran into him.

"Are you okay?" he asked once they had stepped off the main path.

"Yes," Aika replied with less cheer than she had in the store.

"It's tough, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Even if you're told not to let it get to you, it's impossible."

"A little, yeah," Aika admitted softly. "But I was naive."

At this Masato turned to face her.

"Everyone has been studying here all this time, but I came here just because I love music. I should have-,"

Aika abruptly cut herself off with a bite to her plump bottom lip. Masato was curious as to how she was going to finish her sentence, but she only dropped into a bow towards him.

"Thank you for your kind words. If you'll excuse me, I have to get going."

There was no hiding the tears that fell down her cheeks as she jogged off and Masato couldn't help but feel for her. Even though he could tell that the words of the class had really gotten to her, she didn't want to burden anyone else with her problems. While it was a noble thought, it would also be her downfall.

Back at the spot where Aika had left Cecil, she began looking for the cute cat.

"Cecil!" Aika called for him. "Cecil! I brought some food for you!"

She couldn't seem to find the cat anywhere and she had just resigned her search where she heard a beautiful melody being played on a saxophone. An unconscious smile rose to her lips as listened to the music until it stopped. A meow called her attention to the now found cat who was looking up at her with his large eyes.

"There you are," Aika giggled fondly at the feline. "I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find you. I have your meal."

Aika carefully sat on the ground and pulled out the fish so that he could feast. She watched Cecil eat with contentment and ran her finger along his back to soothe both the cat and herself. When he had finished eating, Aika wrapped up all of the trash then stood.

"I'm sorry I have to leave so soon, but I have to go practice," Aika said to the cat. The cat gave a sad mew at her words but he stepped back dutifully and watched her walk away. Aika didn't waste any time heading back to the academy so that she could reach a piano to practice on. When she entered the room, she took off her blazer and vest then loosened her tie so that she could unbutton the first few buttons of her dress shirt. Satisfied that she could relax a little bit more, she ran her fingers along the ivory keyboard then let her fingers rest in the starting position. Let's see, Aika thought to herself as she prepared to play. Playing "Tender Rain" from _Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii_ usually warmed me up so I lined up my fingers to play the first notes. As per when she had played in the classroom, Aika was only able to play a handful of notes before the chalkboard rose up in her mind's eye that had her hands shaking and the page swimming before her eyes. She let out a huff of frustration as she tried to force her hands to move, but they only locked up further.

"God damn it," the fair haired girl hissed. "Why won't my fingers move?"

Aika's little breakdown was then interrupted by Tomo-chan who burst into the room via the door.

"Aika!" she exclaimed when she saw her. "Where were you all this time?!"

Aika quickly hid her hands behind her back to hide her tremors while she looked guiltily towards her roommate and best friend.

"I was looking for you everywhere!"

"I'm sorry," she apologized when she realized how she had worried the redhead. Tomo-chan let out a little exasperated sigh when she saw that Aika had been practicing.

"You were practicing."

"Yeah."

"Aika, you can't let that bother you," Tomo-chan sighed.

"Thank you," Aika smiled at her words. "But I'm alright now."

"If you say so," Tomo-chan relented when she saw how determined Aika was to keep herself upbeat.

"Why don't we go back to the room and play some cards?" Aika suggested while she gathered up the sheet music from the piano.

"We can even get some snacks."

"Sounds like a plan," Tomo-chan agreed, if only to go along with Aika's wishes.

* * *

The next morning, Aika rose early so that she could eat breakfast before heading to a practice room in hopes of getting in some practice before class started. C'mon, she urged herself with frustration. You've been playing piano since you could walk to the bench and hold yourself up. Why can't you play now? Filled with determination, Aika managed to strike less notes than before when her hands seized up again. She took a deep breath to settle her nerves and decided to sing in hopes it would calm herself down.

"Kyou umareta

Kanashimi ga

Sore he maiageru

Sora wa mezame

Kaze wo yobi

Kono mune wa furueru,"

As she sang, Aika could feel herself relaxing and her hands started to die down with the shaking. Thinking that she had solved the problem, she went to place her hands back on the keys only to hit the same block. She grit her teeth in frustration and anger at herself when the door opened to reveal that Masato had found her. Her golden eyes widened in surprise at his presence while the slight tears in her eyes did not escape Masato's notice.

"You don't go to class, but just practice on your own?"

"Masato-san?"

Aika then quickly shoved her hands under the keyboard so that the blue haired male couldn't see the way her hands were shaking. She was both ashamed and angry at her herself for showing such weakness at such a simple task. Understanding blossomed in Masato's chest at the way the petite white haired girl was suffering.

"I used to be the same way," he offered her to which she looked at in shock.

"When I was a child, I couldn't eat in front of my father. He was extremely strict. The relationship between us was no more than that of head of the family and heir. But even as I was, there were times when I found peace. Whenever I was with our old butler, I even managed to forget the painful things in my life. He also taught me to play piano."

Since Masato had opened up to her, Aika couldn't help but want to return the favor.

"When I was little," she began softly. "I had poor health so I was sent to live with my grandmother in the countryside. She dearly loved music so she taught me to play the piano and I taught myself other instruments in my vast amount of free time. Playing and learning was so fun."

While Aika was reminiscing about her past, Masato took this as an opportunity to come forward and stand beside her in front of the piano. His left hand rested in his hip while his right hand came forward to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that had Aika looking on in surprise. What is he doing, she asked herself both at the tune he was playing as well as his close proximity. The more that Masato played, the more Aika was reminded of when her grandmother taught her to play the piano. Her lips unconsciously pulled up into a soft smile that had Masato also smiling slightly. When the song ended, Masato started playing the song again that had Aika's hand rising to tap out the notes along with him. However, Aika was not conscious of the fact that she was able to play without her hands freezing up.

"I-I played," Aika let out in shock right before her hands cramped up again. Masato kept his face neutral as he placed his hand over Aika's on the piano keys that had Aika jumping slightly.

"It's okay," he assured the petite white haired girl he sort of caged on the piano seat.

"Remember how it was when you first starting playing."

"Right," Aika said as she subconsciously leaned back into Masato's chest. Masato wanted to push her away from him because she was getting too close for comfort, but he let her take at least some comfort in him. In Aika's mind, she was thinking back to what she had felt when she was first learning to play the piano. It was always so fun to just strike a few keys to make a beautiful melody.

"It was fun," Aika admitted softly. "I always felt like I didn't need anything else but the notes that I played. I loved it so much."

With those words, Masato stepped back to let Aika gather herself to play the song. The first few notes were Aika's fingers hitting the keys in a stiff manner but when Aika remembered the feeling of Masato's hands on her hands and his warmth against her back, her hands took on more confidence to play the song perfectly with a little added flair. When the feeling of playing welled up inside her chest, Aika opened her golden eyes with a large smile on her face.

"I played the song!" she exclaimed happily. "Masa-chan, I played!"

Both kind of froze at Aika's words, feeling shock at what was just said. Masato wasn't sure of what to make of the nickname that Aika had given him while Aika was freaking out trying to think of how she could apologize.

"I'm sorry Masato-san," Aika told him with a bow of her head. "I have a habit of making nicknames for others and I didn't think before I spoke."

While Masato was thinking about the nickname, he found that he didn't mind it. Usually he didn't want people to shorten his name like that unless he was very close with them. Something about this fair haired composer drew him in like the mysterious moon that hung in the night sky.

"It's fine," Masato dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I already said that you could call me whatever you like."

At his words, Aika beamed at him that had his heart giving an extra beat.

"Then you can call me Aika-chan," she insisted.

"Before I didn't have a dream," Masato told her before turning to face her. "But, I want you to listen to something."

"I'll gladly listen Masa-chan," Aika assured him while scooting over and patting the piano bench next to her. Masato gave her the smallest of smiles as he sat next to her and began to play a song on the piano. The first notes washed over Aika that had her smiling while she leaned a little closer to him.

"Wipe your tears

'Cause someday it'll get started

The future will shine

Glistening as if from a thaw

Your dreams always feel like

Knocking on the mind

Like shivering in the cold darkness

On a corner of asphalt

Don't be afraid pure heart

Flowers always face up

I don't want you to ever forget

That smile is like the sun

So full of feelings

Like an endless flood of love

I want to let me be by your side

Let's share faith with each other…,"

The last notes of the song rang out that Aika basked in until they were gone.

"That was beautiful Masa-chan," Aika praised. "I'm honored that you would share that with me."

"I'm happy you agreed to listen to it."

"How about I play you something in exchange?" Aika offered him. "I usually play this when I want to warm up before playing a piece."

"I'd be happy to hear it," Masato agreed.

Aika then took over the ivory keyboard where she began to play the first notes of "Tender Rain".

"Ah, ah ah

Kyou umareta

Kanashimi ga

Sora e maiageru

Sora wa mezame

Kaze wo yobi

Kono mune wa furueru

Anata no mamoritai

Unmei ni sawaritai

Koboreta namida

Mune no kubomi wo

Yorokobi de mitashitai no,"

As Aika played, Masato could practically feel the magic of the music in the air that drew everything that could hear the notes to her. He had half a mind to liken her to a siren.

"It's a tender rain

Anata no moto e

Kono uta ga

Todokimasu you ni

Doona ni tooku ni

Hanareteitemo

Shinjiteru tsutawaru koto

Singing in the rain

Ame no shizuku ga

Utsukushiku

Kagayaiteyuku

Kanashimi zenbu ga

Kieru sono toki

Sekai we ugokidasu no

Please come the tender rain

Come tender rain…"

As the last notes of the song rang out, Masato couldn't help but be impressed with the skill that Aika displayed.

"What did you think Masa-chan?"

"That was impressive," Masato answered. "You are skilled."

"Thank you. I think I've gotten the courage to play for Ringo-sensei now."

"I'm happy."

"Is that the time?!" Aika shouted when she checked the time on her phone.

"Tomo-chan is gonna kill me if I don't show up for lunch."

"I'll walk you to the cafeteria," Masato offered when Aika stood from the bench.

"Really?" Aika asked. "I don't want you to go out of your way."

"I'm sure," Masato assured her. "We're heading the same way."

"Okay."

Aika was all too happy to scoop up her bag and all but skip to the cafeteria with Masato by her side.

"Aika!"

Aika barely got the chance to turn towards Tomo-chan before all but tackled her.

"Where were you Aika?"

"I was practicing," Aika offered with a sheepish smile.

"All that time?! Geez Aika."

"I'm sorry Tomo-chan."

It was then that Tomo-chan realized that Masato was right behind Aika. An eyebrow rose to question at the second addition, but she didn't say anything about it. She would just add that to what she was going to ask Aika about later.

"What are you going to get for lunch?" Tomo-chan asked, wrapping her arm around Aika's so that she could pull her towards the lunch counter.

"I think I'll get tempura shrimp," Aika said while letting Tomo-chan pull her away.

"I'll see you later Masa-chan," Aika called over her shoulder to the blue haired boy who now stood to the side of the doorway. Once the girls had their food, they found a table to sit down at to talk.

"So Aika, why were you and Masato-kun coming into the cafeteria together?" Tomo-chan smirked as she swirled her udon in her bowl.

"He was helping me practice," Aika smiled.

"Ooh, was there a little romance happening there?" Tomo-chan teased that had Aika choking on her melon soda.

"There was no such thing," Aika denied at once, her cheeks turning pink. Tomo-chan made to talk more, but was interrupted by Natsuki, Otoya, and Syo coming up to the table. Natsuki was in a pink apron with a tray of burnt treats on a try while Otoya and Syo were trying in vain to hold him back.

"Natsuki-kun?" Aika questioned in confusion. "Oto-chan?Syo-kun? What are you three doing here?"

"I heard that you were feeling down so I made cake!" Natsuki exclaimed happily while moving the tray forward a little. Aika raised an eyebrow at his words while the other two swiftly shook their heads in warning. It didn't take long for her to get the message and turn to face Natsuki.

"I'd be happy to accept a cake," she smiled, much to the disbelief of the boys.

"Yay!" Natsuki exclaimed in joy while placing a cake in front of the white haired girl. Aika took a fork off of her plate and took a bite of cake from the foil. Here goes nothing, she said in her head before taking the bite. Oh my god, she gagged in her mind but forced herself to swallow and give a big smile to Natsuki.

"Thank you so much for the cake Natsuki-kun. I can really taste your feelings."

"I'm glad. Do you feel better now?"

"I do," Aika answered honestly although she really wanted to go brush her teeth and scrub her tongue about fifty times. That seemed to be enough for Natsuki because he left the table while Otoya and Syo stood still in shock. When Natsuki was gone, Aika grabbed her melon soda and chugged the whole thing down to try to get the taste out of her mouth.

"How could you smile like that after eating that?" Otoya asked in disbelief.

"I couldn't just hurt his feelings," Aika explained bashfully. "It seemed like he put a lot of effort into making them."

"You'd make a good actress," Syo commented offhandedly.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Masato dedicated time to further help Aika get over her issues with playing the piano. The two sat next to each other on the piano bench with their hands brushing each others ever so often when they both played at the same time. Every time it happened, a small blush would appear on Aika's pale cheeks and she would look up at Masato with warm molten gold eyes. In those times, Masato could feel Aika slowly capturing more of his heart. This girl in certainly something, Masato thought to himself while he watched the drive and passion that Aika displayed with her playing. It makes me want to watch her all day, he absentmindedly thought to himself. Due to their practice for the rest of the day, Aika felt confident about going back to class tomorrow and playing the song.

"Are you sure Nana-Aika-chan," Masato amended when he saw the look Aika was giving him.

"Yeah. I have to face my fears sometime."

Masato gave a nod at Aika's words and decided that if Aika was confident, then she was ready.

ooo0ooo

The next day, the students in class who had bullied Aika the day before couldn't believe the skill in which she was playing when Ringo-sensei called her up to the piano. Aika on the other hand couldn't shake the feeling of Masato around her back with his hands on hers while she played her heart out for the sheet music. Tomo-chan, Otoya, and Natsuki couldn't help the smiles that rose when they saw how Aika was playing in front of the class. Masato couldn't help but feel proud with how Aika was conducting herself in front of everyone. It is nice that everyone can see her skill now, Masato thought while he watched her. Later that day found Aika beside the lake she had come to like on campus with Masato beside her.

"Thank you Masa-chan," Aika sighed.

"I'm the one who owes you thanks," Masato said.

"Why?"

"Back then, I didn't know if I should follow the path that my parents had decided for me. But you were singing, and it looked like you were having fun from the bottom of your heart. That song was as warm as the spring, brimming with gentle sunshine."

"You mean when I sang with the children?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess we did favors for each other," Aika smiled. "And our feelings of gratitude are mutual."

"I couldn't agree more," Masato confirmed. Both were content to watch the way the water rippled the water, but a few feet behind them, Ren was watching the two with a frown on his lips. So that's how it is Hijirikawa, Ren thought to himself.

**ooo0ooo**

**So there we have it lovelies. The second chapter. What did you think about Aika and her interactions with the boys? I'm not gonna lie, I did model Aika off of myself with a few tweaks to give her her own identity. As for the subject of STARISH, who is your favorite member? I myself can't pick just one. I love them all equally, however I am drawn to Ren's voice because he is the same voice actor for one of my favorite characters Undertaker from _Kuroshitsuji_. I would love to hear from you guys about how you got into the anime or the game and what your thoughts are about it whether it be about the franchise itself or the story. I am all for lengthy discussions about the things I love. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to drop a review or shoot me a pm. Remember, reviews are magic!**

**-White Wolf**


	3. Chapter 3

**White Rose of STARISH Ch. 3**

**This is the last chapter I have up and ready to go for right now, so it might take a little bit to get the next chapter up an running. Hopefully these few chapter are long enough to give a little sustenance until I get more chapters up. Again there isn't any magic here, so I will get on with the quote.**

**"It's tough being a girl when there are so many hot princes around."**

**-Shibuya Tomochika**

**Okay, I couldn't resist putting in this quote. XD**

**That's all I had so we will get on with the story.**

**ooo0ooo**

Aika watched with a bright smile and Otoya, Natuski, and Masato practiced dance moves in the quad.

"How was our dancing?" Natsuki asked Aika while Ototya was stretching and Masato looked on across the way.

"The test is next week," Otoya explained. "I hope we can pass."

"It was great," Aika beamed. "It makes me want to dance. I'm sure you guys will ace the test.

"Alright," Otoya laughed happily.

"No, we've still got a ways to go," Masato pointed out. "Your rhythm strays too far off the beat. That's a long way from perfection."

The boys couldn't help but look at him with disbelief.

"Well, that's…,"Otoya trailed off.

"Let's be careful about the tempo," Natsuki agreed.

"Yeah."

"Really?!" came a particularly loud shout from a female student.

"Ren! That's why you're a celebrity!"

Oh dear god, Aika sighed in her mind at the way a group of girls were fawning over the ginger haired idol student.

"How dreamy!"

Aika watched unamused as whatever Ren said only spurred the girls to speak louder with more excitement. Ren-sama, Aika questioned when she heard one of the girls calling him that. I can't believe that these girls fall for this, she continued on with her inner monologue.

"Only he could get away with a line like that," Otoya commented.

"Jinguji Ren," Natsuki said. "The Goddess of Love must be fond of him…,"

"Nonsense," Masato interrupted. "Come on, let's start."

"From the beginning right?" Aika asked, happy to get her mind off of the giggling gaggle of girls.

"From the third phrase if you would," Masato amended. "From here."

Aika couldn't help but bask in the warmth that Masato gave off by his close proximity when he kneeled beside her to modify the music track. Ren on the other hand caught sight of both Aika and Masato and his light mood was momentarily interrupted by a feeling he couldn't quite place.

"I want to properly take advantage of this opportunity," Masato continued.

"Right."

"Huh," Ren said, now heading towards the two. "When did you become so cozy with little lamb Hijirikawa?"

Aika watched the face off between the two wearily since she was brought into the conversation. Why am I being brought into this, she groaned in her mind.

"Ever since we met, she and I have been tied together by fate," Ren added while looking down at the white rose that he had in his hand.

"Wait, what?" Aika voiced as Ren leaned forward to pull her closer. She looked up at him only for him to offer her the rose.

"I'd rather you not stray too far," Ren told her. "I've been looking for someone to feel the sea breeze with."

"Sea breeze?" Aika echoed in confusion. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"You wound me little lamb," Ren smiled. "I thought we had something special."

Aika shook her head with a smirk while looking up at him with fire in her gold eyes.

"You'll have to try harder than simple honeyed words Mr. Casanova."

A delighted smirk rose on Ren's lips at her words.

"I'll take that as a challenge little tigeress."

"What? No more little lamb?"

"You are not as meek as you appear. I'm thinking you are more like a tiger than a lamb."

Aika had another smart remark ready for him, but it flew from her mind when Syo came running onto the scene.

"Syo-kun," Aika greeted him with a smile.

"Hey," he returned with a pleasant smile before turning to Ren. "Ren, what are you gonna do about the lyrics assignment? Have you forgotten Hyuga-sensei promised a harsh punishment if you didn't turn it in this time?!"

"Is that right?" Ren brushed off easily.

" 'Is that right?'," Syo repeated. "That's exactly what he said!"

"Jinguji Ren!" came a new voice that had Syo jumping a little. The S-class teacher Hyuga-sensei then made his way to the little group with a stern look on his face.

"Hyuga-sensei," Syo greeted his teacher.

"Hi, Ryuga-san," Ren said instead. Aika couldn't help but inwardly sigh at Ren's attitude. Why must he act like everything is a joke?

"You skip class and don't turn in any homework," Hyuga-sensei began.

"Show me one more bit of this frivolous attitude, and I'll show you no mercy. I'll expel you on the spot!"

A sharp gasp left Aika's mouth at the news while Syo could only repeat Hyuga-sesnei's words.

"Seriously?!" Otoya questioned in shock.

"Ryuga-san," Ren began after a resigned look crossed his face. "A scowl is never popular with the ladies."

"Don't push your luck Jinguji," Hyuga-sensei warned his pupil as he walked past him.

"I'm serious! I'd better have that assignment by the end of school tomorrow! Otherwise, you're out of this academy! Got it?!"

Rather than verbally answer, Ren waved back to his teacher without turning to face him.

That idiot, Aika sighed in her head. If he was able to get into this school and into S-class, then he has some serious talent. It would be a shame to just throw that all away. Hyuga-sensei left not long after that followed closely by Syo who threw a goodbye over his shoulder.

"I can't believe he is going to be expelled," Otoya commented when only the original group was left.

"Serves him right," Masato said. "It will teach him to actually work instead of messing around with girls."

"He kind of seems like he lost his drive," Aika mused after a few minutes.

"What makes you say that Aika-chan?" Natsuki questioned.

"I don't know," Aika admitted. "Maybe it was just the way his eyes looked or how he reacted to Hyuga-sensei's words. It just doesn't seem right to me."

Aika allowed herself to think about the situation for a few more minutes then focused back on the other boys and their dance practice.

* * *

"Cat cookies!" Natsuki exclaimed while holding up a cookie that was in the shape of a cat.

"Cat?" Syo echoed in confusion while Aika looked at the cookies with interest. Tomo-chan was more interested in her food.

"And I've got pigs too," Natsuki told his blond friend. Aika raised her eyebrow at all of the animals that were mixed in with the cookies in the basket.

"This one's zebra."

"Where did you get these cookies?" Aika found herself asking.

"Do you want one?" Natsuki offered.

"Sure."

"Who, uh…," Syo ventured when Aika took a cookie from the bunch.

"I baked them," Natsuki answered easily.

"I knew it!" Syo exclaimed while he watched Aika took an offered cookie.

"Wait, Nanami! Don't eat that!"

"Why?"

"Syo-chan, homemade food is safer than anything!" Natsuki insisted with a determined gleam in his eye.

"I can't trust anything that you make!" Syo retorted in fear of his life.

Aika watched the scene in confusion while lifting the cookie to her mouth. Why are they so weird, Aika thought to herself.

"You'll die if you eat that!" Syo shouted. "You'll die!"

"I doubt that I would die from eating a cookie," Aika denied.

She had just lifted the cookie to her mouth when Tomo-chan caught her attention by shouting.

"What?! Jinguji-san did what?"

"What did Jinguji-kun do?" Aika ventured since she didn't hear what was said. Syo used that momentary distraction to swipe the zebra cookie from Aika's hands to toss it into a potted plant when Natsuki wasn't looking. He liked the white haired girl and it would be a shame for her to die early by eating Natsuki's baking. It was bad enough that she ate the cake before.

"Yeah," Ittoki confirmed to Tomo-chan.

"Serves him right," Tomo-chan huffed. "He's so irresponsible."

"They're childhood friends, but Masa and Ren are polar opposites," Ittoki commented.

"I thought that was it," Aika remarked while resting her on the palm of her hand.

"They seemed like they had years of history together."

"That's right," Natsuki chimed in. "They even share a room."

"Masa-yan is the successor to the Hijirikawa Conglomerate," Tomo-chan explained to Aika.

"Jinguji-san is the heir to the Jinguji of their parents' relationship, they've known each other since they were little."

"That certainly would have either good or bad feelings between them," Aika pointed out.

In the room that Masato and Ren shared, Masato was sitting at his table on his side of the room while Ren was throwing darts.

"Jinguji, are you ignoring what Hyuga-sensei said?" Masato asked the ginger haired boy.

The blue haired boy was answered by the sound of a dart finding its mark on the dartboard.

"It has nothing to do with you," Ren finally said.

We never get along, Masato sighed in his head. Things have changed since then, he realized when he looked back on how things used to be. Things used to be fun and easy for the both of us when we used to sneak out of parties to go play outside. But we grew up, he thought with a sigh. Once we realized each other's positions, we stopped speaking to each other. Determined to study music, I convinced my father to let me come here for one year. In Ren's head, he remembered a conversation he had had with his elder brother before coming to the academy. As the eldest son, I must succeed our late father, he had said. Ren, go to Saotome Academy. Make a name for yourself in show business and become a poster boy for the Jinguji family. He took a few more minutes to think it over before he sat up from his bed.

"Hijirikawa, are you worried about me?" Ren teased to hide his turbulent thoughts before letting out a sound of irritation.

ooo0ooo

Later that day found Ren standing atop a bridge sort of railing of the school building. He stared down at his notebook as he wrote down lyrics, but he found himself stopping before he could complete them. What's the point, he thought to himself. He even went as far as to rip out the page and crumble it in his fist.

"This is stupid," he said to himself. He stuffed the crumpled paper in his pants pocket as he had flashbacks of watching his mother's video. In attempts to clear his thoughts, Ren pulled out his saxophone. Whenever he found that his thoughts chased each other around and around in his mind, he found that he could calm himself down by playing a song. The beautiful, jazz note floated through the campus air that managed to permeate into the practice room that Haruka was in. That must be Jinguji-kun, she thought to herself with her mechanical pencil hovering over her sheet music. She quickly wrote down the notes that were floating in her head then walked over to the open window to hear the music better. He really is good at the saxophone, Aika smiled softly to herself. When her golden eyes caught sight of the boy up high on the building, she smile grew a little. If he can play with such passion, why has he lost his drive? While Ren played, Aika found herself walking towards where he stood to get closer to the music. Before she knew it, she was standing under the arches of a stone canopy just a few feet from Ren. He had just finished playing his song when he noticed Aika out of the corner of his eye. When he caught sight of her white hair flowing in the breeze, he thought for sure he was in the presence of one of the fabled flower maidens he had read about as a child.

"You're like a flower shining in the setting sun," Ren commented while he kneeled down to put his saxophone away.

"That was such a beautiful song," Aika told him with a small smile that showed her hidden dimples.

Ren was a little taken aback at the sight and he couldn't help but wonder what else he could discover about the petite white haired girl if given time.

"I'm happy to hear that," Ren said, walking over to her with his usual confidence.

"As long as we can be alone together, I don't care what your reason is."

When Ren stopped in front of Aika, she had to look up into his blue eyes. However, when he pulled his hand out of his pocket, Aika's eyes followed the crumpled up paper that fell out. She barely registered that his hands settled on her shoulders and Ren couldn't help but turn to see what exactly had taken her gaze off of him. When his eyes saw the paper, he let his hands fall from her shoulders. Aika didn't hesitate to bend down to pick up the crumpled paper. She was just about to open the paper when it was plucked from her hands by Ren. Confused by his actions, Aika looked up at him as she rose back to her feet. Upon closer inspection, she was able to see some words that were written on it.

"Are those lyrics for your assignment?" Aika asked him. Ren didn't say anything and a rush of relief washed through Aika.

"Oh, that's good," Aika sighed.

"Good?" Ren echoed.

"I was worried about if you would turn in your lyrics," Aika confessed with a little embarrassed smile.

"I didn't know what I would do if you didn't."

The only served to confuse the ginger haired boy. Why would she be worried about that, he asked himself.

"But you've already written them."

Ren couldn't help but smirk at Aika's words.

"I think it's about time for me to disappear," he told her.

"What?" Aika uttered in shock.

"I'm bored of this place."

At his words, Aika's face settled into a hard face.

"You're not bored of being here," she denied, sure without the shadow of a doubt that she was right.

"Oh?"

"You've lost your drive."

"Maybe you're right," Ren said without confirming anything.

"At any rate, it's time for me to leave here."

"In that case, just leave already," Masato spoke up that had both Aika and Ren turning to face him.

"Masa-chan," Aika uttered that had Ren looking between the pale girl and his blue haired roommate.

Just what was going on between the two, he found himself asking in his head.

"I don't like you," Masato told Ren.

"My life has been decided by my father. But only in music and I free."

Aika felt her heart reach out to the blue haired boy at his words.

"That's why I can't forgive you for not taking this seriously."

"I didn't come here because I wanted to," Ren chuckled while he closed his eyes to keep his emotions in check.

"I was thrown in here."

"Thrown in?" Aika echoed on confusion.

"There's no reason for me to be here," Ren added. "It's just a game to me."

"You're lying," Masato said, voicing both his and Aika's thoughts.

"That tone just now was no lie," Ren denied.

"Why don't you show what you really have to offer?" Masato challenged the ginger male.

"I told you," Ren insisted while he began to tear up the previously crumpled paper.

"What are you doing?" Aika questioned in shock at what he was doing that went unnoticed by Ren.

"This is a game."

As if to prove a point, a breeze blew through that spread the bits of paper to the wind.

"The lyrics!" Aika shouted worriedly.

What was Ren thinking?! Didn't he work hard on those lyrics that he had just thrown away?!

"I don't have time to waste on these stupid lyrics," Ren said.

Masato's eyes widened in anger and jumped forward before he could think to punch Ren square in the mouth. Aika's eyes widened at the display of violence and she knew she had to intervene before it got too out of hand.

"Masa-chan," she interjected, jumping up to hop on his back and lock her arms and legs around his torso.

It seemed that did little to deter the male because he still glared at the ginger.

"How unfortunate," Masato spat. "I thought you had more mettle."

It was then that Masato realized that Aika was on his back.

"Aika-chan, please get off of me."

Aika was conflicted seeing as though she didn't know if he would try to hit Ren again, but she relented when she saw that he angled his body away. She quickly slid down to land on her feet so that Masato could leave the balcony. Ren smirked at Masato's remark.

"What a hot head," he commented that had Aika looking to him worriedly.

While she did not approve of Ren provoking Masato, she also did not approve of Masato punching Ren. He probably wouldn't like it if I tried to take care of the cut, Aika thought to herself. So I should probably just go try to find the lyrics that he threw away.

"I'm going to go look for the lyrics," Aika said softly before she too left the balcony. Her heels clicked against the hard floors as she flew down stairways and hallways to get to the trees and bushes below where Ren still stood. Now where would the wind have blown the pieces of paper, Aika asked herself while she stuck her pointer finger into her mouth then raised it to the sky to test the wind. When Aika got a good idea of which direction the wind was blowing, she took off to hopefully find the missing pieces.

Luckily for her, Aika found a good chunk of the missing pieces of paper amongst the bushes that lined a path not that far from where she had just been. Anyone who walked past the white haired girl looked to her in confusion as she let out shouts of joy when she found new bits of the lyrics. After grabbing all but four pieces needed to restore the page, Aika found a piece up in the trees above her.

"You have got to be kidding me," Aika groaned, looking up at the tree with her hands on her hips.

How in the hell am I going to get up there without any branches lower for me to climb? I can't exactly jump all the way up there. Aika looked around her at the other trees until she found a tree with branches closer to where she could hoist herself up. And bingo was his nameo, Aika smirked to herself before she hastened over to the chosen tree. When Aika reached the tree, she climbed all the way up to the branch that was level to the branch she needed a few trees down then carefully shimmied her way across the tree branches until she was on her desired branch. Up above at a window, Ichinose Tokiya watched Aika climb her way across the branches. What is that girl doing, he thought to himself as he watched her struggle to reach out towards the piece of paper that he couldn't quite see. She was able to grab the piece from the leaves of the branch, but a slight shifting of her weight was enough to cause her to slip. She gave a yelp at the turn of events and her hand shot up to catch herself. Luckily she stopped herself from falling straight down to the ground, but the rough treatment of her palm caused the bark to cut into her delicate palm. She gave a wince of slight pain then let go of the branch to land harshly on her feet only to fall to her knees. That was fucking scary as hell, she thought to herself while she caught her breath. When Aika had almost fallen out of the tree, Tokiya's body moved before he could register what he was doing only to stop when he saw that she didn't fall from the tree. Thank god, he sighed to himself in his mind but stopped himself before he could think more about it. Why am I worried about her? She wouldn't have died if she would have fallen. With that thought in mind, Tokiya left the window and continued on with what he was doing. Now that Aika had all but three pieces of the lyric sheet, she gave a few more minutes searching before calling it quits. Instead she returned to her room where she proceeded to put the paper back piece by piece. The process was painstakingly slow, but she put as much care as she could into restoring the lyrics. However, she made sure to bandage her palm before even thinking about touching the white paper. As she put it back together, she read the lyrics that appeared before her.

"These are so good," Aika said to herself while reading.

"Why would he just throw these away?"

Aika frowned at her own question as she continued to work.

* * *

The next day, Aika scoured the campus to find Ren to give back his lyrics. She ended up finding him all alone on a grassy hill just outside of the main campus area.

"In a classroom dancing with the evening sun," Aika quoted from Ren's lyrics that had him jumping a little at both her sudden nearness and the fact that she was quoting his lyrics. He slowly turned to face the white haired girl who stood a few feet from him. Did she seriously take the time to find all of pieces of my lyrics, Ren asked himself in disbelief.

"By your eyes twinkling even more than the stars I'm...knocked out," Aika continued on with a light blush on her pale cheeks.

Ren was floored by the small petite girl who was standing so prettily before him while quoting his lyrics. She is so beautiful, Ren couldn't help but think about her.

"It's wonderful," Aika commented while she walked forward.

"When you fall in love with someone and release your feelings, everything comes alive with light and dances."

She then kneeled down in front of him so that she could hand over what she could gather of the paper.

"I couldn't find all the pieces," Aika lamented sadly.

At Ren's surprised face, she found herself backpedaling a little.

"I'm sorry for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, but I couldn't just let you let such talent and passion go to waste. I can't let you quit. You should tell everyone how you really feel."

Ren almost shook his head at the nerve of the girl in front of him, but he found himself smiling instead. She never ceases to surprise me, Ren chuckled to himself.

"Thank you," he said. "You skipped class just to do that."

"I guess I did," Aika admitted with a ducking of her head. "I honestly forgot 'cause I wanted to get this back to you."

With that said, she placed the paper in his hand where her bandage brushed against his hand. That was enough to bring Ren's attention to her injured palm.

"What happened?" he questioned.

"I cut my palm a little when I was climbing a tree to get part of the lyrics," Aika answered.

"You climbed a tree?" Ren found himself echoing.

"Yeah, but don't mind it," Aika dismissed, waving her hands as she rose to her feet.

"It's just a scratch. Besides, I still have to go look for the missing pieces."

She didn't even wait for Ren to say anything before turning around and running off. You won't find it even if you look for it, Ren sighed in his head to the reatreting figure of the girl. It's not done yet.

Sometime after looking for a few hours by herself, Aika was joined by Tomo-chan, Otoya, Syo, and Natsuki. They searched tirelessly for the missing pieces, but they became disheartened when they didn't find any pieces.

"Aika, did it really fall here?" Tomo-chan asked her roommate.

"I think so," Aika sighed. "That is in the trajectory that the wind took when they fell."

A little ways down from Aika, Syo gave the trees a good poke with a broom handle before giving a sigh.

"He's an annoying guy, but it he really going to quit?" he remarked, referring to Ren.

"It would be such a pity," Natuski agreed.

"I don't think that he'll quit," Aika said with certainty. "All he needed was the right push."

Just as she finished her sentence, the school bell rung that signaled the end of the school day.

"It's no use," Otoya said when he heard the bell toll. "It's time."

"I have faith in him," Aika insisted with determination set in her brows. "He still had some time to either remember the lyrics or write new ones."

When Aika thought she couldn't take the suspense anymore, she heard the click of a tongue over the speakers of the school.

"Hey, can everyone hear me?" Ren's voice echoed all across campus that had Aika's spirits soaring.

"See, I told you guys," she practically beamed.

"Little Tigress, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can," Aika replied even though she knew that he couldn't hear her.

"Ryuya-sana and everyone else, please listen," Ren continued on.

"I just finished my song. I'll release my slumbering feelings ...Until the very last phrase."

They could all hear the breath he took before talking again.

"It's showtime!"

The jazzy, energetic sound of Ren's saxophone then washed over the speakers that had Aika's heart warming. I knew you had it in you Ren-chan, Aika thought with a small smile on her lips.

"In a classroom dancing with the evening sun,

I was looking at only you

But your eyes twinkling even more that the stars

I'm knocked out

I've never felt anything like this

If I had to compare it to something

It's like bitter chocolate

The sweet nectar is making my love

Turn on its hazard lights

I usually only take

It's a simple lesson time

But…

To be stolen from is a rule breaking love

Release my soul

Remove your fake heart

Deep in my heart

I'm breaking out!

I'm on fire

If my running emotions change into passion

I'll say it just for you, the last phrase of my love

Believe heart to the end of the world."

As soon as the last notes of the song was washing over the speakers, Aika took off towards where she knew the recording studios to be. Everyone else followed closely behind her so that they too could congratulate the ginger haired male. Aika was the first to enter the booth to congratulate him.

"I knew you could do it Ren-chan!" Aika exclaimed without thinking about what she had said while she threw her arms around Ren's broad shoulders as much as she could.

"Ren-chan," Ren teased her in her ear while he wrapped his own arms around her slim waist.

When Aika realized what she had said, he face lit up in a blush and she tried to pull away but Ren was having none of it.

"Sorry. I have a habit of giving nicknames without-,"

"Who said I didn't like it?" Ren questioned as he pulled back slightly to look down into captivating golden eyes.

"Can I get you to call me Aika-chan, or is Little Tigress gonna stick?"

"I'm afraid it has stuck My Lady," Ren smirked that had Aika rolling her eyes.

"Of course it has."

"You did great Jinguji," Syo told his classmate with a large smile.

"I didn't think you would be able to pull it off, but you surprised me."

"Let's just say I have a new drive," Ren said as his eyes flashed over to Aika for just a split second. Aika gave Ren a warm smile in return.

"I'm happy for you Ren-chan," Aika offered him.

Not long after that, the group split up with Aika walking back to her dorm by herself.

Grandma, songs move people's hearts and give them passion, Aika thought in a mental letter to her grandmother. I had the opportunity to listen to such a song today. A small smile appeared on her lips that hinted at her dimples when Aika realized that Tokiya was walking towards her. Seeing as though he didn't look like he was going to talk to her, Aika gave him a simple nod and continued on her way. Tokiya was a little surprised at the simple gesture but his facial expression nor his gait betrayed it.

Later that night, Tokiya's mind was full of thought of the white haired girl. What was so special about this girl? Why was everyone so enamored with her? Was she the one who got Ren to write those lyrics? To satisfy his curiosity, he turned to his roommate who was strumming away at his guitar at his desk across from him.

"Otoya."

"What? Was I being too loud?" Otoya asked his roommate, stopping his strumming to turn around and face him.

"No," Tokiya sighed.

A little confused as to what he meant, Otoya voiced his confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Did she make Ren write the lyrics to that song?" Tokiya questioned,

"Are you talking about Aika-chan?" Otoya smiled.

A little surprised that they were on a first name basis, Tokiya gave a nod.

"Yes."

"I was impressed," Otoya admitted with a small smile.

"She gathered up the torn lyrics. She even climbed a tree to do it. Her feelings must have reached Ren."

So that's what she was doing yesterday, Tokiya thought to himself when he remembered the strange zigzaging that she had done across the campus outside of the window.

"She always works so hard," Otoya continued on, unable to stop himself when he had started talking about her.

"Especially when it comes to music."

It looks like she has both Ren and Otoya wrapped around her fingers, Tokiya commented to himself when he saw the way Otoya's face softened.

ooo0ooo

"Come on Cecil," Aika called out to the handsome black tom who was sitting on the warm grass in front of her. She was waving a dandelion around for him to bat at while her warm laughter mixed with the sound of the sighing grass. As she was playing with the cat, a sudden phrase of music came to mind that she needed to put down on paper before she forgot. In response to her thoughts, she had dropped the dandelion so that Cecil could pounce on the once elusive weed while Aika hastily jotted down the phrase.

"It's better to write it down than to lose it later," Aika sighed.

When she wrote down the last note, Aika could hear a peculiar noise around her. What the hell? She looked around in hopes that she could find the source of the sound, but came up with nothing. The noise continued on until she heard a yell come from behind her. Her head snapped around to see Syo clinging for dear life onto a branch that was on its last legs.

"Syo-kun!" Aika called up to him. "Are you okay?"

Her shout was enough to surprise him enough to let go of the branch that had him falling with a yell.

"Syo-kun!"

Before her mind could catch up with her body, she ran forward and slid under him to provide him with some sort of cushion with the ground. A groan left Aika under Syo while he let out an ouch.

"Are you okay?" she wheezed out. "I didn't mean to startle you."

When Syo was able to get a grip on his wits, he realized that he was laying over Aika's stomach with his head a little over her breasts.

"Are you okay?" Syo returned, worried since the small girl had cushioned his fall.

"I'm fine," Aika waved off as she was grateful that he had sat up so that she could breathe again.

"Should we go to the nurse's office?"

"Don't tell anyone," Syo demanded that took Aika aback.

"What are you talking about?" she voiced when Syo ducked his head so that his hat covered his face.

"Don't tell anyone you saw me here," Syo explained while he helped Aika to her feet.

"Alright," Aika relented at once. "Just as long as you promise to be more careful in the future."

Syo looked relieved at her words while a smile popped up at her worry.

"I will," he promised. "And thanks...for the save."

"What save?" Aika grinned. "Did I see you here?"

Syo gave a laugh at her words that made any worry he had before leave him. All he gave her was a pat on the head before he turned to leave while Aika watched after him with worry in her golden eyes. She was worried for her friend and his weird behavior, but she couldn't find it in herself to pry. Thoughts of the stylish blond continued to swirl around in her mind all the way until lunch break. I want to ask him what he was doing so badly, she groaned in her mind while she tapped her papers against her desk to get them straight.

"Wow, Hyuga-sensei's going to be in a movie!" Otoya exclaimed that brought Aika out of her thoughts.

"What?" Tomo-chan asked.

"Look at this," Ototya insisted while turning his magazine around so that the girls could see. When both Tomo-chan and Aika looked at the article, they saw that the movie he was going to be in was called "Precipices Prince".

"Hyuga Ryuya is lead actor?" Tomo-chan questioned after reading the article.

"I think he stars in a lot of action movies," Aika offered.

"It makes sense since I've always seen him running around campus. He is one fit teacher."

"He's getting a little old to be a prince though," Otoya commented.

"He'd just graduate to a king instead of a prince," Aika smirked.

"It says they're holding amateur auditions!" Tomo-chan exclaimed.

"Co-starring with Hyunga-sensei, huh?" Otoya added.

While they were looking over the article, Natsuki had slid up beside them to look at the article.

"I see," he said that had everyone jumping in surprise.

"When did you get here?" Otoya stammered a little in his surprise.

"I need to tell Syo-chan immediately."

"Is Syo-kun a fan of Hyuga-sensei?" Aika asked with slightly wide eyes.

Was that what he was trying to do, train for the role? But what would make him ask me to keep what he was doing quiet?

"Yeah, he's always been a huge fan of Hyuga-sensei's."

"Oh really?" Otoya smiled. "I bet Syo wants to audition then."

"Yes," Natsuki agreed.

I'll have to pass on the news if Syo-kun hasn't already heard about it, Aika thought to herself.

"Aika, what do you want to do for lunch?" Tomo-chan asked the white haired girl as they both walked to the cafeteria.

"I'm starving."

"I wonder what I should get," Aika laughed.

"I'm getting a teriyaki burger without the teriyaki sauce," Tomo-chan insisted but was cut off when Aika gave a shout of excitement when she saw Syo walking ahead of them.

"Syo-kun!" Aika called out to him as she ran up to him.

"Do you know about the audition?"

"What?" he said before a look of understanding washed over his face as well as a bit of sadness.

"Oh, you mean Hyuga-sensei's?"

"Oh, you already know," Tomo-chan beamed happily.

"You really are a huge fan. You already checked it out."

"Natsuki," Sto uttered.

Aika's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the mention of the tall blond and turned slightly so that she could see where Syo was looking. Just behind them walking down a walkway a little ways away from them. Aika's face lit up at the familiar face and she couldn't help but call out to him.

"Natsuki-kun!"

At the sound of his name, Natsuki stopped and turned towards the voice. As soon as he saw the blond next to Aika, Natuskilit up.

"Syo-chan, wonderful news!" he shouted over.

Syo reflexively flinched at the energetic blond's voice as it usually didn't end well for him.

"Crap!"

Without even thinking, Syo grabbed Aika's wrist and proceeded to pull her after him. What in the world is wrong with him, Aika questioned in her mind while she ran with him. Rather than say anything at the moment, Aika kept her thoughts to herself so that she could try to at least catch her breath.

* * *

They ran for a few more minutes until Syo was satisfied that they were far enough away from the dangerous blond. When she stopped for a breather, he let go of Aika's hand and doubled over to take in big lunguls of breath. Aika herself sank to her knees to try to get her breathing under control.

"Sorry," Syo gasped. "Things always get complicated when Natsuki is involved."

"I take it you have a long history with Natsuki-kun?"

"That's an understatement," Syo chuckled humorlessly.

"Besides, there's something I need to do before the audition."

"You're going to do it," Aika grinned up at him with her dimples flashing.

Syo gave her smile when blue eyes met gold.

"I couldn't let a chance like this pass me by."

Aika gave a small cheer that also lifted Syo's spirits.

"After all, he's the Prince of Fighting."

"Prince of Fighting, that sounds familiar," Aika mused.

"The Prince of Fighting is a hit drama starring Hyuga-sensei," Syo told her.

"It's set in Europe in the Middle Ages. When his family is killed in a civil war, a prince swears to get revenge and restore his kingdom by fighting with his fists."

To show Aika the magnificence of the show, Syo began singing.

"A world shrouded in dust,

The farthest reaches of the wilderness,"

As Syo sang, the joy and enthusiasm he had for the series and Hyuga-sensei was evident in his voice.

"My heart burns hotly

Burning shot

This unstoppable feeling

Become a fist

My tears shine, the stars shine, too

La, la, la

There are nights I heal myself with song

But my heart is howling

100 isn't enough

I go 1000%

Full throttle chivalrous spirit

No one had better stand in front of me

Because I don't know what I'll do

I don't want to make anyone suffer

Burns of rage

Underneath this vast sky

As long as I have a tomorrow to protect in my heart

Unquestioningly shout

Full throttle chivalrous spirit

Let's go

Fight!"

"You have a wonderful singing voice Syo-kun," Aika praised the blond male as she got back to her feet.

Syo smiled at her words before talking again.

"My body's been frail since I was little, and I never had any confidence," he told her.

"But watching Sensei on TV cheered me up. I owe Ryuya Hyuga a lot. He's my hero."

Aika found herself relating with Syo about heroes when she thought about Hayato/Tokiya.

"When I learned he was my homeroom teacher, I was so happy."

"I bet," Aika smiled only to be surprised by Syo's shout of surprise.

She followed his line of sight to see that Hyuga-sensei was running along a trail a good few feet in front of them. He even threw in some punches and kicks that had Syo all but bouncing on his feet in excitement.

"He's so cool," Syo all but beamed.

"I wish I could co-star with him. Do you understand how I feel?"

"I do actually," Aika said with a small smile.

Syo was surprised at her words and turned to face her when she uttered the words. Who would she look up to, Syo found himself wondering. And if she had a hero, what exactly happened for her to look up to them?

"I'm a fan of Hayato-sama," Aika revealed.

Syo couldn't believe his ears. Why on earth would this girl be a fan of him of all people?

"That's not what I'd expect from you," Syo remarked. "Hayato is…,"

"He's a wonderful singer," Aika insisted, taking a strong step forward that showed how dedicated she was to him.

"He cheered me up too. His music saved me."

"You're just like me, then," Syo realized after hearing her words.

"I guess so," Aika smiled up at him.

Syo was pleasantly taken aback a little at words when they both heard Natsuki.

"Syo-chan, found you!"

Fear clawed its way into Syo's heart at the net that flew towards him, but Aika was looking at the net with shock. Thankfully the net only captured Syo that left Aika wondering just where Natsuki had gotten the net.

"Syo-kun!" Aika called up to him in worry.

"Are you okay?!"

"Syo-chan, you still haven't gotten over your fear of heights," Natsuki pointed out happily, much to Aika's dismay.

"He's afraid of heights so you strung him up in a tree?!" Aika protested with even more worry in her tone.

"Seriously, stop! It's so high!" Syo protested as the net he was in swung dangerously from side to side.

"Let me down! Stop it! Stop it! What's going on?!"

Aika couldn't take his shouting anymore so she resigned herself to climb up the tree to get Syo down. She used the same method that she had before to shimmy her way to where the net was secured so that she could slowly work out the knot that kept the net in place. When she had released the knot, she slowly lowered Syo to the ground while her arms strained from the effort. Both Syo and Natsuki couldn't believe the strength and bravery Aika was displaying climbing up the tree to free Syo. Syo was so grateful for the release of his prison while Natsuki thought he was watching a white haired goddess. Before long Syo touched down to the ground that left Aika on the tree branch letting out a deep breath.

"Are you okay Syo-kun," Aika asked the blond who was wiggling his way out of the net.

"I'm fine," he assured her, his body shaking now that he was safely on the ground. "Are you okay? Will you be able to get down?!"

"I'll be fine," she grinned down at him. "I just got to-,"

As she talked, she maneuvered herself so that she was hanging down from the branch by her arms, but she underestimated how much strength she had left in her arms. A yelp left her when her grip faltered that had her falling towards the ground.

"Nanami/Aika-chan!" Syo and Natsuki shouted when they saw the small girl plummet to the ground. Natuski went to run forward to catch her, but Syo beat him to it. He held out his arms to catch her around her waist. With the way that he caught her, Syo ended up falling to the ground with Aika straddling his waist. A groan left Syo as his hands moved to settle on her hips.

"Looks like we're even," Aika chuckled while she gathered her bearings.

"I guess we are," Syo returned.

"Are you alright Aika-chan?" Natsuki fussed, rushing to her side and kneeling down beside her.

At Natsuki's words, Aika realized she was straddling Syo and hastened to get off of him.

"I'm fine," Aika said. "But since you called me Aika-chan, can I call you Natsu-chan?"

"That is so cute," Natsuki smiled that spoke of his happiness with the nickname.

"Great. Why don't we all go grab a cup of tea to calm our nerves?" Aika suggested with a shuddering breath.

"Sounds like a good idea," Syo agreed.

* * *

"So are we going to talk about the fear of heights?" Aika ventured after she had her initial cup of tea.

Natsuki and Syo sat on either side of her while Otoya and Tomo-chan sat across from her and Masato sat down a little ways down the table.

"Fear of heights," Syo echoed while he shook in fear. "O-Of course not."

"Looks like a serious phobia," Tomo-chan observed with her face resting on her palms.

Masato said nothing while he took a sip of his tea.

"That can't be good, though," Otoya mused. "The movie's called The Precipices Prince."

"There's gonna be lots of high places," Tomo-chan pointed out.

"Sh-Shut up," Syo said. "I'm doing my best to get over it."

So that was it, Aika thought when she remembered his earlier plight with the tree branch.

"Don't be so secretive, Syo-chan," Natsuki encouraged his childhood friend.

"Why didn't you come to talk to me about it?"

"Because it'd be dangerous," Syo retorted.

"There's nothing dangerous about me," Natsuki denied with an innocent face.

The net begs to differ, Aika refuted in her head.

"That smile's plenty dangerous!"

"Hey, let's all help him get over it," Otoya suggested despite the mini freak out Syo was experiencing.

"Huh?" Syo questioned.

"Then, he'll be able to audition," Aika joyfully joined in.

"I guess I'll help," Tomo-chan offered.

"Your conversation sounds interesting," came a familiar voice that belonged to a certain ginger.

"Ren-chan!" Aika greeted him happily.

"Would it be alright if I joined you?" Ren asked the jumpy blond.

"It sounds like a good way to pass the time."

"What about you Masa?" Otoya asked the quiet blue haired boy.

"Knowing what is right and not doing it is want of courage," was all Masato said that Otoya took as a yes.

"It's decided, then," Otoya announced.

"If you'll all help me, I guess I can give it a shot," Syo relented.

"It probably won't be so bad Syo-kun," Aika told him while leaning into his side. Syo was thankful for her comforting warmth and basked in it for a few moments before he stood from his seat. Maybe Aika was right. It wouldn't be that bad with others to balance out Natsuki, right?

**ooo0ooo**

"We're starting with this?!" Syo protested loudly from a high tower atop the school building.

"No way, no way! Absolutely not!"

"Shock therapy in the best way to cure it," Natsuki called out to him while everyone else watched from the safety of the inner part of the tower.

"Are you sure about this?" Aika voiced out loud.

"Probably," Otoya said after thinking about it.

"Well if he's going to do it, I'm going to stand out there with him," Aika decided with her mind set.

No one held her back as she walked forward to put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm right here Syo-kun," Aika assured the nervous blond.

"I'm not sure if this is going to work, but we have to give it a try."

"You're right," Syo relented. "Just, Just give me a push when I'm not-,"

Aika did not wait for Syo to finish his sentence before giving him a firm push off the plank he was standing on. She leaned over a little to look at him as he fell with the thick rope that was tied around his waist following him. I don't think this worked, Aika sighed in her head when Syo yelled as he fell. The next test was to put him on a window washer platform beside a building, that also failed, then putting him on a really high bridge. This one also failed. With each try, Aika couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was trying to get over his fear, but they methods they were using was not working.

"We should take a break," Aika interjected when she saw that Syo was almost at the end of his rope. She carefully helped him sit down and rest before she hopped off to go grab some snacks from the school store. She had just paid for the snacks and was heading out when she ran into Tokiya. They both stood in silence while Tokiya took in the pale girl in front of him.

"You seem busy," he commented.

"My friend Syo-kun is going to audition, so we're all helping him," Aika told him.

"You must have a lot of free time."

"Not necessarily," Aika refuted softly. "But when a friend needs your help, you have to help them."

"Well, do your best."

Even thought Tokiya had all but given her a verbal lashing, Aika couldn't help but want to explain further.

"You may not understand," she began slowly while she thought over her words.

"But it's a very important dream to him. I want him to at least have a shot at living his dream."

Tokiya was a little surprised at Aika's words and couldn't even offer up anything to say as Aika excused herself. When Aika rejoined the group, she could see that poor Syo was all but passed out from his fear.

"Hey, hasn't his phobia gotten worse," Tomo-chan commented while she tried to fan Syo with her handkerchief.

"We may have pushed him too far," Otoya admitted.

"It's time to quit," Masato joined in.

"We're not done yet," Natsuki insisted. "If anything, we've been too easy on him. I actually happen to have a friend inventing a rocket. He told me if he goes up about ten thousand meters, he might not be scared anymore."

At the mention of the rocket, Aika paled more than she already was.

"What?!" Syo exclaimed in worry and even more fear than he was in before.

"I brought the snacks!" Aika shouted to bring the attention of the group on her in hopes that it would push the idea from Natsuki's mind. Tomo-han took a water bottle from the bag and proceeded to dump the water on Syo's head to get him to cool down a bit. It worked, but the day had been too much for him so he fell to the side on the bench he was sitting on. Poor Syo-kun, Aika thought in her head while a hand reached out to pet Syo's hair.

"Syo-chan works so hard," Natsuki sighed. "I want to see him overcome his fear."

"You and Syo-kun are childhood friends, aren't you?" Aika voiced out loud at the fact that Syo and Natsuki knew each other like Masato and Ren did.

"We met each other quite a lot over the years at violin contests," Nastuki said.

"I didn't think we would both come here, though."

"I wonder why he's afraid of heights," Otoya mused, watching Syo's soul fly from his mouth.

I have an inkling, Aika thought to herself when she thought back to how Natsuki treated Syo. Something tells me that Natsuki is at the root of this fear.

"Perhaps he had a terrifying experience in the past," Masato offered that Aika silently agreed with.

"What do you mean, a terrifying experience?" Otoya questioned.

Just as he asked the question, everyone could hear a deep laugh that Aika remembered from orientation. Is that the principal, she found herself asking only to jump with a yelp when the principal popped up behind the bench that Syo was laying on.

"P-Principal, when did you get here?" Tomo-chan stammered through her shock.

"He probably heard us and decided to come investigate," Aika groaned, her hand coming to rest above where her heart was pounding relentlessly in her chest. In true Shining Saotome fashion, the man did a handstand on the back of the bench and spun before hopping off to land on his feet in front of the bench.

"Listening to the concerns of devoted students is one of my responsibilities," was his reply before he grabbed Syo by his shoulders.

"Mister Kurusu."

That was enough to snap Syo out of his funk.

"What? What do you want?!"

"It's alright," the principal assured the young blond.

"Don't worry. I'll help you with your problem."

* * *

Later that night found the group in Shining Saotome's office with the promise of Syo getting over his fear. The principal saw in a chair behind a metronome along with a candle while Syo sat across the table from him in his own chair.

"Close your eyes and, slowly, take deep breaths," Principal Saotome instructed while waving his hands around.

Syo looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, but he went along with it in the end.

"Slowly, slow and slow, slowly. Slowly."

As the principal was giving the instruction, Aika had Poison Kiss by Quartet Night playing in her mind starting with the "Slowly, slowly" line. Everyone else was focused on what was happening in front of them.

"You will calm down and begin to feel warm. And you are becoming sleepy."

The whole group held their breath as they waited for at least something to happen.

"Okay, you're asleep," the principal said when Syo's head hung down towards his chest.

"No, I'm not," Syo denied at once while his headshot back up.

"How was that supposed to put me to sleep? Come one, don't be ridiculous. Besides, I-,"

He's asleep the group though in unison when Syo's head flopped back down as he began to snore.

"There, there, there," the principal grinned at the turn of events.

"You are asleep. Your memories will now travel farther and farther back in time. You are three years old. You are riding on a ferris wheel. Are you super afraid of heights?"

Aika held her breath while waiting for Syo's answer.

"It's not scary," Syo mumbled. "It's fun."

"Okay, you're four years old now."

"Nope, it's fun."

"Okay, you are five years old now."

Aika was able to see the way Syo's face scrunched up at whatever was playing in his mind. So the trauma happened when he was five, Aika thought to herself. Please don't tell me it was Natsu-chan who did it, she wished to herself.

"Is the ferris wheel scary?" the principal inquired.

By the way she started screaming, everyone was able to see that he was in fact scared of the ferris wheel scenario.

"What's wrong?" the principal asked, not even phased by Syo's reaction.

"I'm scared! Stop!"

Aika bit her lip at Syo's shout. She wanted to get the principal to stop since Syo was showing such distress, but she also knew that he wanted to get past his phobia for the audition.

"What happened?" the principal continued on.

"I told you!" Syo yelled at some unseen person. "Stop chasing me!"

Syo seemed to be reliving some sort of horror before he was brought out of his memories with a jolt. They all watched Syo with apprehension until his face took on extreme anger.

"Natsuki, it was you!" Syo seethed.

Of course it was, Aika sighed in her head. Why am I not surprised?

"What?" Natsuki voiced in confusion.

"Why you," Syo said as he hopped up from his seat to take fistfulls of Natsuki's uniform.

"Now that you mention it," Natsuki smiled despite the predicament he was in.

"I had a feeling something like that might have happened."

"It did happen," Syo insisted with a scary look on his face.

Before Syo could try to do something more or for Natsuki to make the situation worse, Aika strode forward to ease Syo's hands from Natsuki's uniform.

"Why don't we all head back to our dorms and get a good night's rest," she suggested.

She could see all of Syo's boiling anger, but he calmed down a bit when he saw Aika's sweet features.

"You're right Aika-chan," Natsuki agreed softly when he understood what Aika did.

While he knew that she didn't need to put herself between them, Natsuki appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

ooo0ooo

"You're not doing the audition?!" Aika questioned the next day with everyone else gathered around Syo.

"Wh-Why not?" Tomo-chan asked. "I thought you got over your fear of heights."

"Why?" Syo grumbled. "Look at this!"

The group all looked down to see that the roll was for a girl to play the protagonist's younger sister. Otoya read it out loud for everyone so that they understood.

"A girl?!" Tomo-chan exclaimed.

"How the hell are people expected to read such small print," Aika commented with a hand on her hip.

"I really wanted to co-star with Hyuga-sensei," Syo sighed.

"It's alright, Syo-chan!" Natsuki shouted, running towards the group with a frilly pink dress.

"Leave it to me!"

Both Aika and Syo watached Natsuki's approaching figure in dread for what he intended to do with the dress.

"Don't tell me you…," Syo trailed off.

Before everyone could process what had just happened, Syo was forced into the dress along with a wig.

"Syo-chan, you're so cute!" Natsuki exclaimed with glee while Syo looked none too happy.

Poor Syo-kun, Aika thought to herself. Aika kept quiet while Natsuki bustled around snapping pictures of Syo.

"You know, this isn't bad," Tomo-chan commented.

"Enough already!" Syo shouted in equal parts anger and embarrassment.

"Amazing," a new voice chimed in that had Aika stiffening.

"Hyuga-sensei," Syo uttered in shock, watching his idol jog in place just a few feet away.

"You look exactly like what I had imagined for my younger sister," Hyuga-sensei remarked.

"What's your name?"

"I-It's Syo."

"Come audition, Syoko-chan."

Aika winced with the blow to Syo's pride at the name Syoko as he sank to his knees in humiliation.

"Do you think we traumatized him again?" Tomo-chan pondered to Natsuki.

"You think?" Natsuki asked.

To at least make him feel a little better, Aika stepped forward to kneel beside Syo.

"It's okay Syo-kun," Aika said softly with a hand to his shoulder.

"I think that a real man can wear whatever he wants and still be manly."

He perked up a little at her words and he looked up at her with grateful eyes.

"Nanami…,"

"Please, call me Aika-chan," Aika insisted.

"I want to call you Syo-chan, but I think you're traumatized by it with Natsu-chan."

"That's an understatement," Syo muttered under his breath.

**ooo0ooo**

**There we have it lovelies. The last written chapter I have. What did you think? Even though I have watched the show a couple times, I still react to the episodes as if I watching it for the first time. Something about how the story is told always seems to get me. One of the most engaging parts are when Natsuki is messing with Syo. I feel so bad for Syo, but I also know that Natsuki isn't really trying to hurt or traumatize him. At least I think he isn't. Anyway, the nicknames that I give the characters through Aika are the personal nicknames that I gave them. Granted, I wanted to call Natsuki Na-chan at first, but I figured that since Natsu from **_Fairy Tail_** is Na-chan, I should change it. Man, I forgot how much I love this franchise until I picked up writing it again. I would love to hear from you guys soon. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the story or the franchise, feel free to drop a review or shoot me a pm. Remember, reviews are magic!**

**-White Wolf**


	4. Chapter 4

**White Rose of STARISH Ch. 4**

**Wow, it took a bit to get this chapter up and ready to post online. I'm almost done with my classes for the winter semester so I should have a bit more time to work on my stories. It is so hard trying to pick just one story to focus on so much that I find myself jumping back and forth between stories. I'll add a bit to the story here and add a little to a story there. For some reason, I just can't seem to focus on just one story over the other. I've tried to keep to an updating schedule a few times to get content up regularly for you guys, but my mind can't focus on a story unless I have an idea. I've tried to add a story when I don't have the inspiration and the results were weird and very not where I wanted to go. As for the episode where it concerns Tokiya after the Hayato concert, I am not quite sure how I want to work that in after this chapter. If anyone had an idea, I would be open to suggestions. Looks like we have a couple reviews, so I will get with that.**

**LunaWolfSunTigeress15: Thank you so much for the review Luna. I always look forward to your reviews. As for keeping this a reverse harem, I am leaning towards that. I love everyone in the STARISH group and I think that is because we get to grow with them as characters in the first season before they actually become idols.**

**pupstarstar: Hello lovely. When I read your review, I have to admit I took it as inspiration when writing this chapter. I knew that I wanted to have Aika interact with Satsuki besides fear from the beginning, but I just couldn't think of how I wanted Satsuki to react. I'd like to think that I wrote Satsuki well, but I could be wrong.**

**It's nice to be able to see this when I come back to a story to post a new chapter. I love seeing the reviews that I have waiting for me. Well, I won't go on for too much longer. WE just have the quote and we'll get on with the story.**

**"I'd rather die than to live without passion." **

**-Jeon Jung-kook**

**On with the story!**

**ooo0ooo**

Excited nerves could be seen in Aika's posture as she picked out her outfit for the day. Instead of a cutesy look that she wore back at home with her grandmother, she chose a darker outfit with a pop of pink. A black crop top with spaghetti straps was paired with a black miniskirt over sheer pink leggings tucked into black heeled boots. To go with the outfit, a black choker was secured around her neck and a pair of gold earrings went in her ears that had a gold pearl on her lobe with gold crescent moons hanging from the pearl. Inside the curve of the moon sat white roses while pink crystals continued to hang down from the crescent moon. As for her makeup, she applied a small bit of pink around the corners and bottom of her eye to give subtle color then applied clear lip gloss to enhance her natural lip color. Her hair went into its usual odango style so all Aika had to do was spritz on some perfume and slip her black purse over her torso. Before heading out, she ducked into the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat even though her stomach was in knots. It's better to eat now then pass out later due to nerves and not eating, Aika reasoned with herself while she quickly ate some nikuman. Just as she swallowed the last bite, Aika ran into Masato, Otoya, and Tomo-chan when she walked by to take care of her wrappers.

"Aika-chan!" Otoya called out to her when he saw the familiar white hair.

"Hey Oto-chan, Masa-chan, Tomo-chan," Aika greeted them, flashing a smile that showed her dimples.

"Are you going somewhere?" Otoya ventured when he saw the way she was dressed.

"Yes, I'm going to Hayato-sama's concert."

"He's supposed to announce his new song," Tomo-chan told the boys.

"I'm so excited that I was shaking getting ready this morning," Aika beamed.

"I am concerned," Masato spoke up after placing his tea cup on the table he was sitting at with the others.

"About what?" Aika voiced.

"If I didn't have a bunch of assignments, I would go with you," Tomo-chan sighed while she rose from her seat to lean into Aika.

"Why?" Aika tried to ask.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself, Aika-chan?" Otoya questioned, his eyes showing his uneasiness and worry about her going by herself.

Now that Aika knew that they were questioning whether or not she would get herself lost, she sort of stiffened.

"Thank you for the concern," she began with slightly red cheeks. "But I'll be fine getting to the venue on my own."

"I hope you don't get lost," Masato sighed.

"Do I really seem so hopeless?" Aika asked the group with the most even voice possible even though she could feel her temper start to rise.

"In that case," Ren spoke up while placing a hand on Aika's shoulder.

"I'll escort the Little Tigress."

"Ren-chan," Aika uttered at the nerve of the ginger male.

"While we're at it, why don't we enjoy a date together?"

"What makes you think that getting a date with me would be so easy?" Aika challenged with an eyebrow raise.

"I would be far more concerned that way," Masato pointed out.

At his words, Ren looked up to glare at the blue haired male. Masato in turn glared right back. Boys, Aika sighed in her head at the obvious display of male dominance.

"I'll be fine everyone. I swear," Aika insisted. "I'm a tough girl. I found my way here for the test all by myself. I can handle going to a concert."

"I see," Otoya commented unconvincingly.

"I'll see you guys later," Aika offered with a roll of her eyes.

The others watched her walk away with concerned eyes. While they wanted to insist to accompany her to the concert on the off chance that she would get lost, they knew better than to try to argue with the stubborn girl. Geez, Aika thought to herself while walking down the hallway. I'm not that helpless. As luck would have it, right as she turned a corner, Aika ran into what seemed like a wall. A yelp left her as she fell back hard onto the floor.

"You've got to be kidding me," Aika groaned under her breath only to notice that in the fall, her copy of Hayato's CD had fallen out of her purse. This doesn't count, she thought to herself. I haven't even left campus yet.

"Sorry," Aika told the unknown person as her hand shot out to retrieve the CD she dropped.

To her surprise, she realized that the hand belonged to none other than Tokiya.

"Tokiya-san," Aika uttered in shock.

Tokiya said nothing as he rose to his feet with her CD in hand. Aika didn't know what to say until Tokiya winced when he shifted his weight wrong.

"Are you okay?" Aika asked when she saw the flinch.

While Tokiya might not like her that much, she still cared about his health and safety. Rather than answer her, he simply handed back the CD then turned to leave.

"Uh," Aika said before she found herself thinking of what to say.

Tokiya stopped but didn't turn around to hear what she had to say.

"I hear Hayato-sama is having a concert today."

"Are you going?" Tokiya inquired.

"Yes."

"Make sure you don't get lost."

"Are you kidding me," Aika let out in disbelief. "I am not that bad with directions."

I'll show them, she thought with determination. I'll find my own way there and show them that I am perfectly capable of getting myself places.

* * *

Even though Aika said that, she still found herself a little turned around.

"This is ridiculous," Aika sighed to herself while she studied her map.

"I was so sure I made the right turns. I guess I'll just have to check the street signs."

As soon as she looked up from her map, she caught sight of a blond boy who looked eerily similar to Natsuki. Except he couldn't be Natsuki because he wasn't wearing glasses and the standoffish aura that was coming off him in waves was nothing like Natsuki's peaceful one. It seemed that he was writing something on the papers that he held close to his chest as if to guard it from the world. Rather than go up to him and start talking with him, Aika simply observed him. He did not want to be disturbed at the moment and Aika wasn't going to be the one to ruin his peace and quiet. It wasn't until she saw some jerks throw trash onto his head that she actually walked over to him.

"Oi!" she shouted at the guys who were so careless with their trash.

"You should watch where you're throwing your trash. You just threw that on his head."

The boys only waved her off to which she huffed at. She decided to leave them be and instead inspect the Natsuki look alike's hair to see if any food got stuck there.

"There doesn't seem to be any food in your hair," Aika told him. "But that doesn't excuse what they-,"

Aika didn't have a chance to finish her sentence because she was moved carefully out of the way so that the look alike could charge at the boys and punch the wall beside one's head. When Aika saw the deep dent in the concrete,her eyes widened and she was very worried about his hand. I hope he didn't break it, Aika fretted as she rushed over to the commotion. The boy who had a near death experience was shaking badly while facing the blond male.

"Throw your garbage in the trash," the blond told him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt.

"I think he's had enough," Aika interjected when the boy who was in the blond's grasp looked like he was ready to pass out then and there.

"What is more important is taking a look at your hand. Is it broken? Does it hurt?"

Without asking for permission, Aika took said hand in both of hers to inspect it. The boy who was being threatened not just seconds ago took this as an opportunity to hightail it out of there while the white haired girl had the murderous blond's attention. The blond himself was watching the girl with slight annoyance and some parts amusement. He was annoyed that his prey had fled, but he had never had anyone try to take care of him before. He existed only to protect so he didn't care if he was hurt. He would even go as far to say that the touch of her fingers all over his hand had a calming effect on him. While she was small, it had looked like she was ready to fight the boy he just had in his grasp when the trash hit his head. She is a feisty one, he thought to himself.

"There you are!" came Syo's voice before Aika saw him sprint forward to place glasses on the blond's face. Aika's eyes widened at the action while Syo looked like he had just run five blocks. The blond's body stood stock still as the person who had occupied the body's mind was forced to the back for another person. The person who was just out tried to claw their way back to the surface so that they could see more of the girl, but the other person ended up winning. The person who looked up at both Syo and Aika was definitely the Natsuki that Aika had thought he was earlier.

"Huh, Aika-chan, why are you here?" Natsuki asked in confusion.

"I was coming through for a concert," Aika answered uneasily. Compared to who she had seen earlier, Natsuki and the person seemed like polar opposites. Wait, no. They weren't complete opposites. Aika couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she could see that there were similarities between them. One could even liken them to twins.

"Why don't we all stop at a cafe?" Syo suggested when he saw the confused face Aika was pulling.

"That sounds great!" Natsuki agreed at once.

ooo0ooo

And so the group moved to a nearby cafe where they ordered snacks. Syo stuck with a pot of tea, Aika settled with a melon soda float, and Natsuki ordered a cute purple parfait that Aika wished she had ordered.

"It's so cute," Natsuki chuckled while he eyed the star cookies.

"You understand now right," Syo whispered to Aika.

"He's Natsuki right now, but when he takes off his glasses, he becomes the completely different Satsuki."

"At least I can call him by a name now," Aika sighed.

"I don't know what happened when he was little, before we met, but he sent a ton of people to the hospital after they made him mad."

"But he seemed to like you," Syo commented. "I have never seen him take to someone so quickly."

"Should I be flattered?" Aika questioned.

"Extremely flattered," Syo confirmed. "Usually the only way to be safe is to turn him back into Natsuki. Satsuki is also surprisingly good at composing, and he spends every free moment writing songs. He's what you'd call a prodigy."

"That's amazing," Aika grinned. "I would love to brainstorm with him."

"If anyone would be able to do it, you would," Syo said. "But he doesn't remember anything when he turns back into Natsuki."

Huh, Aika thought to herself only to be brought out of her thoughts by Natsuki.

"Aika-chan."

"Yes?"

"You really do…Look like my beloved Elizabeth."

Do I really look like a dog, Aika groaned in her head even though she kept a smile on her lips.

"When I'm with her, I feel like I'm enveloped in a sunny spot."

"That's one of the best feelings in the world," Aika smiled. "I absolutely love just lounging in patches of sun. Though I have to take care so that I don't fall asleep."

A soft smile and a chuckle left Natsuki when he saw the small smile that hinted at Aika's dimples.

"Aika-chan, you really do understand," he said while bringing a cup of tea he just poured to his lips. However, the steam from the tea caused his glasses to fog up that had him reaching to take off his glasses. Syo looked worried at the action and moved to stop him while Aika was completely ok if Satsuki decided to pay them another visit.

"Don't take your glasses off, Natsuki!" Syo exclaimed that caught the taller blond off guard.

"What?" Natsuki voiced at the opposition to his action.

"I'll cool it down for you."

Aika had to try hard to keep from laughing out loud or smiling at the scene of Syo blowing on Natsuki's tea to cool it so she hid it behind a sip of her melon soda float.

"You're so considerate Syo-chan," Natsuki smiled at his childhood friend.

Thankfully, the steam had cleared from Natsuki's glasses but Syo blowing on the cup had moved Natsuki's hair across his nose which caused him to start to sneeze. With a particularly hard sneeze, Natsuki's glasses fell off his nose and onto the table. Aika continued to calmly sip on her drink while Syo was looking to Natsuki in dread.

"Hello Satsuki-san," Aika greeted him with a smile before going back to her drink.

"Are you not afraid of me?" Satsuki teased her with a smirk and an almost menacing gleam in his eye. Aika could only watch as Satsuki moved closer in order to try to intimidate her.

"No, I'm not afraid of you Satsuki," Aika said with conviction.

"Unlike Natsuki, I'm not a nice guy."

"You could have pushed me away or hurt me when I was by your side earlier," Aika pointed out, subtly watching Syo retrieve Natsuki's glasses from the table.

"But you didn't."

"I could do it now," Satsuki argued.

He was a little irked that the white haired girl in front of him showed no fear towards him yet he was also a little glad. She had run to his defense earlier after all.

"Why would I be afraid of you protecting Natsu-chan?"

That question seemed to floor him because he almost recoiled away from her that was enough of an opportunity for Syo to slip the glasses back on him. In a flash Natsuki was back and staring down at Aika who he had noticed he was too close to. He liked being so close to her, but he backtracked before he came off as creepy.

"Pardon my intrusion," Natsuki said as he moved back to sit in his seat.

"It's fine," Aika smiled at him.

"So, where are you two headed today?"

"We're going to the Carnival World Amusement Park," Natsuki answered excitedly.

"Really?" Aika asked in pleasant surprise. "I'm on my way there too. Hayato-sama has a concert there later today."

"You could walk with us if you want," Syo offered. "Just so you don't get lost."

"It was a one time thing," Aika pouted, still a little sore of getting a little lost after assuring her friends that she could get to the concert alright. Syo and Natsuki on the other hand couldn't help but find the way Aika had her cheeks puffed out with just the slightest hint of a blush on the apples of her cheeks to be extremely cute.

"That's great," Natsuki smiled. "We'll be able to watch the Piyo-chan character show after the concert."

"Sounds like fun," Aika agreed when no one asked about her getting lost.

The group then finished their drinks, then walked together to the park. Aika had showed her ticket and was let in before the other two, so she was the first one to find a table that was full of Piyo-chan merchandise. One item in particular caught her eye and she hastened to buy it and head back to the boys.

"Hey Natsu-chan, bend down for a moment please."

Natsuki looked a little confused by Aika's request yet he still bent down to Aika's level at her request. Without further ado, Aika plopped a Piyo-chan hat on Natsuki's head and stood back with a proud smile.

"There we are. The yellow even matches your hair."

"Thank you," Natuski smiled down at the petite fair haired girl who in turn flashed him a smile that showed off her dimples. Natsuki's heart skipped a beat at the sight and a light blush settled on his cheeks at the cute sight in front of him. Even Syo couldn't deny the adorable sight in front of him that had him grinning at the infectious joy the white haired girl gave off.

"We still have about an hour and a half until the concert," Aika said after checking the time on her phone.

"We should have time to go on a ride or two before we have to head over to the concert. Is there anything that you guys want to get on?"

"Let's go to the carousel!" Natsuki smiled in excitement.

"That's a great idea Natsu-chan!" Aika agreed.

Syo groaned at the thought of having to go on the childish ride, yet he couldn't deny that the smile on Aika's face was making the idea grow on him.

"You two can go on," Syo told the other two when they turned to him to get his opinion.

"I'll just stand to the side."

"Are you sure?" Aika frowned, a little worried about Syo feeling left out.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Syo smiled while placing a hand on her head.

"You two have fun."

"Then we'll make sure to do what you want next," Aika promised him with a smile that had an unconscious smile that tugged at his lips while his heart warmed towards her.

"Come on Natsu-chan," Aika said to the tall blond.

Before Natsuki could say anything, she took his hand in hers and all but dragged him after her towards the line for the carousel. He was a little surprised at her forwardness yet he appreciated the way her hand felt in his. With how the girl acted, he sometimes forgot just how small and petite she was. His hand easily dwarfed hers and her hand felt really soft against the callouses he had from playing the viola. Even the warmth her hand gave off traveled up though his own hand and arm to settle around his heart. Just from this alone he had a sense of security that had him holding her hand in return.

* * *

They didn't have to wait long for their turn on the carousel and were more than happy to step up and pick their horses. Natsuki chose a yellow horse with a white mane that he looked like a giant on while Aika chose a pure white unicorn that she had to sit on sidesaddle. Luckily for the two, their steeds were right next to each other so that when they were finally seated, they both turned to each other and gave each other huge grins that threatened to break their faces.

"Syo-chan," Natsuki called out to the shorter blond who was watching them with a fond smile on his face.

"Take a picture of us!"

Syo shook his head at the energetic blond yet he still reached into his pocket to take out his phone to get ready to snap pictures as the two went by. The two posed for a couple pictures, but the majority of the pictures that Syo took were candid. They might have also been mostly Aika with a few being of Natsuki and Aika laughing together. They went around a couple times then they got off and met back up with Syo who was looking through the different pictures he had taken.

"Let me see Syo-chan!" Natsuki exclaimed as he crowded behind the shorter blond.

"Hey!" Syo complained as he tried to move out from under Natuski's larger frame. Natsuki was very happy about the pictures that he saw of him and Aika, yet he couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the way Syo had been taking mostly pictures of Aika. He must like her, he thought to himself.

"Where do you want to go next Syo-kun?" Aika asked the shorter blond who had managed to get Natsuki off of himself.

"We can go to the prize booths," Syo said with an easy smile. "It's right on the way to the stage."

"Lead the way then!" Aika exclaimed joyfully, looping an arm through both Syo's and Natsuki's arms.

She may not have mentioned it to the boys, but this was the first time that she had really ever hung out at an amusement park with friends. She had always been too frail when she was little to try anything like that, yet now she was able to do so and watch a Hayato concert right after. To her it felt like a dream come true. Both Natsuki and Syo couldn't help but give a small smile at the large smile that Aika had on her lips that had her dimples out on full display. When they saw the way that her dimples shone through, they thought that they would do whatever it took to keep that kind of smile on her face.

"How about we try the gun shooting game?" Syo suggested when they reached the games that were on the edge between the amusement park and where the concert was going to take place.

"I'm game," Aika agreed.

Both Syo and Aika picked up a toy gun full of cork pellets after paying with Natsuki hanging back to take pictures.

"How about we make a wager?" Aika offered as she pulled the butt of the gun to her shoulder.

"What's the wager?" Syo questioned, looking interested in what she had to say.

"First one to ten win. If I win, you have to buy me a crepe."

"Alright. If I win, you owe me a new hat."

"You're on."

Without waiting for the other to say start, they both started firing away at the targets. Natsuki has already started snapping pictures of both Syo and Aika with a happy flush on his cheeks. They are both so cute, Natsuki thought to himself with a soft chuckle. Syo-chan doesn't like it when I hug him, but maybe Aika-chan won't mind that I hug her. As he thought that, Syo had already shot down about five of the moving targets and he felt really accomplished with his task. However, when he looked to his right to see how Aika was fairing, he saw that she had just shot down her tenth target with terrifying accuracy. His eyes widened at her marksmanship and his gun lowered slightly in his shock. Natsuki himself couldn't help but be in awe at Aika's accomplishment while Satsuki, deep inside Natsuki's mind, couldn't help but admire the petite white haired girl.

"I believe that was a win for me," Aika teased, placing her gun back on the counter.

"Yeah," Syo let out in one breath.

"How about we change what I get as a prize?" Aika asked after selecting a prize from the vendor.

"I'm listening," Syo said as he too put his gun back on the counter.

"We'll both go to the mall on Saturday and we'll go shopping. That way you can get something you want and I can get myself a crepe."

"Okay," Syo readily agreed after hearing her proposition.

"Can I come with?" Natsuki questioned after hearing Aika's words.

"Sure Natsu-chan," Aika agreed with a soft smile. Natsuki gave a smile at her agreeance while Syo looked a little worried at the prospect of spending a day with Natsuki. He already had his hands full before running into Aika trying to get glasses back on Satsuki to bring back Natsuki. Well, Satsuko likes her, Syo mused to himself. It might make it a little bit easier to get glasses back on him.

"Here Syo-kun," Aika said, handing a white plush tiger over to the slightly taller blond.

"A gift from me to you."

"Thanks Aika-chan."

"Look at these pictures I took of you two," Natsuki cheered while kneeling down a bit so both Syo and Aika could see the pictures. Aika was more than happy about the pictures of the day while Natsuki and Syo couldn't help but take in the way Aika's eyes and face lit up in happiness at the pictures. I could get used to seeing that face everyday, they both thought fondly. Even deep in the recesses of Natsuki's mind, Satsuki was watching Aika with interest as well as amusement. Why is she so excited about some pictures? At least she is making Natsuki feel safe and happy.

"We should start heading over," Syo suggested.

"You're right," Aika agreed.

She linked her arms with the both of the boys before leading them over to the stage area that was already set up for the show. As soon as they had gotten their places amongst the crowd, the lights on the stage lit up to let the crowd know that the show was about to begin. Aika's eyes sparkled while many other girls around her cheered and talked animatedly with their friends. I can't believe I get to attend Hayato-sama's concert, Aika gushed to herself in her head. When the screen on the stage changed from the cover of Hayato's new single to a collage of his faces, the cheering in the crowd grew louder in anticipation.

"At any rate," Natsuki commented from Aika's side. "He looks just like Tokiya-kun, doesn't he?"

Aika kept her thoughts to herself even though she was ninety-eight percent sure that Tokiya and Hayato were one and the same.

"Naturally," Syo told the taller blond. "They're identical twins."

"Like you and Kaoru?" Natsuki voiced.

"You have a twin?" Aika asked the stylish blond beside her with wide eyes.

"Yeah," Syo grinned. "He's the younger twin and he's studying at our sister school."

"That's amazing," Aika smiled up at him. "Will I get to meet him?"

"I'm sure he'll be around one of these days."

Aika's attention was then brought back to the stage when Hayato's voice came over the speakers.

"Good morning!"

Her lips rose into a bright smile that had all of her dimples on display as the show started.

"Thank you for coming to my concert tonight!"

In an explosion of confetti, Hayato jumped out onto the stage and began to sing.

"In a special mood,

You can become happy

Do you know the magic password?"

As Hayato sang, Aika's brow furrowed at the change in Hayato's sound. He did not sound at all like this when he had first debuted and it was bothering her. It had no doubt everything due to the bubbly persona that he gave when he was performing.

"You can't get away

With lying to yourself

Come on,

Look up at the sun

Brilliantly glittering

A shower of sunlight shining through the trees."

Syo was the first one to notice Aika's frown and grew worried about his friend.

"What's wrong, Aika-chan?"

"Hayato-sama has a beautiful voice as always," Aika began with a small smile that faded back into a frown.

"But...it's not the same as before…"

Natsuki heard the exchanged words and he couldn't help but try to understand what Aika was saying.

"Sparkling more than the sun,

Because the light of the dream is forever!"

Aika watched Hayato spin as art of his choreography yet flinched when he stepped on his foot wrong. This caused his microphone to fly from his hand and drop onto the stage. Aika watched with wide eyes when Hayato watched the mike bounce on the floor of the stage before coming to a stop a few feet from him. What's going on, Aika asked herself worriedly. The jarring wave of interference and sound that the mike gave off was enough to make Aika dizzy that was not helped with her growing worry for the idol on stage. Shouts for Hayato to keep performing flew across the stage while Hayato stood still without reaching for the fallen microphone. That was enough to get the fan girls yelling Hayato's name and encouraging him to go on. Some girls behind Natsuki were so restless that they bumped into him. Aika watched it happen out of the corner of her eye and she turned in enough time to see Natsuki's glasses hit the ground then broken in half by the heel of a female fan. Oh no, Syo thought to himself when he realized what had just happened. As if the situation couldn't get any worse, it started to thunder and rain on everyone. Aika watched Satsuki warily as he grabbed the Piyo-chan hat on his head to throw it off. Fans started running all over the place while Satsuki gave a feral yell. He then stalked forward towards the stage that had Aika hesitating on doing anything.

"Hayato!" Satsuki yelled at Hayato who was still on the stage.

"Why do you sing insincere songs?!"

While Aika had thought the same thing while listening to the song before, she wasn't going to outright ask him. When he continued running forward, Syo tried to catch him but ended up short. In the meantime, Aika went to try to find a substitute for Natsuki's busted glasses. Satsuki had managed to dodge the staff that tried to detain him and simply knocked out the other staff who tried to come after him. This is not good, Aika worried to herself as she turned her attention back to the blond who had made it to the stage.

"You're in the spotlight," Satsuki began in his gruff voice.

"But your true feelings hide in pitch dark shadows. It pisses me off."

Hayato looked taken aback at Satsuki's words while his mind tried to register that these words were coming from who he thought to be Natsuki.

"I'm the dark side of Shinomiya Natsuki," Satsuki continued. "But I don't lie to myself. Listen to my song."

Instead of putting up resistance to the odd request, Hayato simply gave a nod to agree with Satsuki's request.

"Let him," Hayato directed towards the band members who were watching the new addition to the stage warrily.

Since Hayato was vouching for the tall blond, the band members went back to their instruments and listened to the instructions that Satsuki was giving them. In less then five minutes, the band struck up the music that Satsuki then proceeded to get lost in. Aika herself couldn't help but be pulled into with the fast rock beat that came from the guitars and drums.

"Buzzing shadow minds

Almost driven to madness:

'Who am I?',"

Aika shook her head to make herself focus and grab the broken glasses from the ground since she could not find an alternative anywhere around her.

"I have the glasses Syo-kun!" Aika called over to the shorter blond only for the lenses on the glasses to shatter.

Fuck, Aika thought to herself. I can't put these on him and get Natsu-chan back….but maybe I can do something to distract Satsuki. Syo-kun did say that Satsuki likes me. I could buy Syo-kun enough time to find something else.

"I'm going to try something!" Aika shouted over to him before bolting towards the stage much to Syo's displeasure.

"Shadows and light

You and I

Come closer

Asking each other

'Real' or 'fake'

Black?

White?

Why?

Why?"

As Satsuki continued to sing, Aika carefully made her way towards the stage. Through careful maneuvering, she made it to the stage and edged herway towards Satsuki who was singing his heart out. While she made her way to him, she listened to the lyrics of the song he was singing so passionately. Is he...Is he talking about being trapped in Nastuki's body? She had just made it to his side and was about to put the glasses on him when he turned to face her. Instead of jumping out of fright, Aika met his gaze bravely while her hands lowered a bit. A smirk quirked Satsuki's lips up in one corner as he reached out to grab the arm wrist of the hand that held the glasses and pulled Aika into his chest.

"What are you doing Satsuki-san?" Aika asked, feeling Satsuki's strong arms wrap around her waist.

"Let's do something fun," he whispered down at her.

Aika's mind raced with different routes to take to get the glasses back on him, but she couldn't come with anything. She could only watch as Satsuki leaned closer to her. However, she couldn't find it in herself to be scared of him. Even if he wasn't Natsuki, she didn't believe that Satsuki would do anything criel to anyone who was Natsuki's friend.

"Aren't you scared?" Satsuki questioned the petite girl in his arms who looked up at him with half lidded eyes.

He had to admit that he liked the way that Aika felt in his arms and he didn't quite want to let her go. Her soft body against his that moved along with his was making a warmth blossom in his chest.

"No," Aika denied without missing a beat. "I know that you wouldn't do anything cruel to me."

Satsuki was greatly taken aback at her words which was an ample opportunity for Syo to slip the Piyo-cahn hat on Satsuki's head. The glasses part of the hat seemed to act as glasses for Satsuki disappeared from behind the eyes looking down at Aika so that only Natsuki remained.

"Aika-chan?" Natsuki uttered in confusion as he backed away a little from the fair haired girl.

Aika let out a small sigh of relief as she smiled up at the tall blond. Natsuki then turned to see Syo who looked like he just wanted to go home.

"And Syo-chan. What's wrong?"

That only served to make Syo very irritated.

"Let's go," he ordered while pushing Natsuki towards the stairs of the stage.

"Why?!"

"Just move, now!"

While the two blonds were making their way off the stage, Aika walked over to Hayato who was watching the procession with mild confusion.

"Are you alright?" she asked when she got close enough to see the bandage that Hayato had wrapped around his ankle. She was even more sure now that Tokiya and Hayato were one and the same.

"If you're injured, you should have rest. Putting strain on it won't let it heal."

"Aika-chan, what are you doing?!" Syo called back to the white haired girl.

"Come on!"

"Please think of your health more," Aika insisted before she turned on her heel to run after Natsuki and Syo.

**ooo0ooo**

**There you have it guys. A new chapter that has more interaction between Tokiya and the introduction of Satsuki. As for a later chapter of the story, I am thinking of having Aika and Syo go to the mall together. Should I just have the two of them go together, have Natsuki join them, or have the whole group go with them to the mall? I love all of these ideas, but I can't decide which one I want. I think I'll put up a poll on my page so that I can see where everyone is leaning. Besides that, what did you think of the chapter? Do you like how Aika treats Satsuki? I wanted her to be able to be accepting of Satsuki as a person on his own. That's all I have for this chapter so if you have any questions or comments about the story leave a review or feel free to shoot me a pm. Remember, reviews are magic!**

**-White Wolf**


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